Intuitive Surgical (Nasdaq: ISRG) reported earnings on April 17. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), Intuitive Surgical beat expectations on revenues and earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue grew significantly and GAAP earnings per share grew significantly.

Margins improved across the board.

Revenue details
Intuitive Surgical booked revenue of $495.2 million. The 13 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated revenue of $465.8 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 28% higher than the prior-year quarter's $388.1 million.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
EPS came in at $3.50. The 15 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ forecast $3.17 per share. GAAP EPS of $3.50 for Q1 were 35% higher than the prior-year quarter's $2.59 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 71.9%, 10 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 39.0%, 80 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 29.0%, 220 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $520.1 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $3.55.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $2.12 billion. The average EPS estimate is $14.72.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 4,034 members out of 4,243 rating the stock outperform, and 209 members rating it underperform. Among 1,272 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 1,228 give Intuitive Surgical a green thumbs-up, and 44 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Intuitive Surgical is hold, with an average price target of $489.73.

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