Key takeaways
- Intuitive Surgical shares rose more than 3% in late trading Thursday after the medical device maker beat analysts' first-quarter sales and earnings estimates.
- The company's da Vinci robotic platform saw 16% year-over-year growth in global procedures, while its next-generation da Vinci 5 robotic system received FDA approval in March.
- Intuitive Surgical share price may face resistance around $403 due to a trend line linking three recent price peaks.
Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) shares rose more than 3% after the close on Thursday after beating analysts' earnings and revenue forecasts amid growing demand for the company's robotic solutions used in minimally invasive medical procedures.
For the three months ended March 31, the medical device maker posted adjusted earnings of $1.50 per share, easily beating Wall Street's estimate of $1.41 per share. Revenue of $1.89 billion in the period grew 11% and also beat forecasts, which analysts had pegged at $1.87 billion.
The top line was boosted by the company's instruments and accessories business, which saw sales increase 18% year-over-year, primarily due to 16% growth in da Vinci procedure volume, a 90% growth. in the volume of the Ion procedure and favorable prices. The medical equipment maker's da Vinci robotic platform aids surgeons' precision and control when performing minimally invasive surgery, and the Ion procedure is a robot-assisted biopsy.
The company highlighted its next-generation da Vinci 5 robotic system, saying it received clearance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in March and that the company had fielded eight of the systems by the end of the quarter.
The growing demand for robotic-assisted procedures indicated by Intuitive Surgical on Thursday echoes comments from rival Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) earlier this week when it reported first-quarter earnings, saying it expects procedure volumes to related to medical technology remain high until 2024.
Intuitive Surgical stock rose for several months after the 50-day moving average crossed above the 200-day moving average in late December to generate a golden cross buy signal, but has remained range-bound since early of March. Amid follow-up buying after the company's better-than-expected earnings report, investors should monitor the $403 level, a place on the chart where the stock may encounter resistance from a trend line linking three price peaks. recent.
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