Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (ISRG)
Intuitive Surgical makes the Da Vinci robotic systems that help surgeons perform complex, minimally invasive operations with greater precision.
Is Intuitive Surgical, Inc. a good stock for a UK beginner?
The honest version: There's no rating here and nothing for sale. In its favour: High profit margins suggest a very strong and efficient business model. Worth weighing: The shares are priced at a premium, which can make them sensitive to market sentiment.
Is this normal for this company?
Each figure against the range this same company has produced recently. Neither end of a range is the good end.
Share price divided by the earnings actually reported over the four most recent quarters. The range is the same calculation at each of this company's last few results, so roughly the past year.
Profit as a share of sales, from the company's own quarterly statements. The range covers the 5 quarters we hold, and the figure shown is its most recent one.
How these ranges are built
Every number here is the company's own reported figure, not a comparison with other companies. The ranges come from this company's own results and its share price. Where it reports in a different currency from the one its shares trade in, the price-to-earnings range is left out rather than mixing the two.
What does Intuitive Surgical, Inc. do?
The company designs and builds advanced robotic platforms that act as an extension of a surgeon's hands, allowing for smaller incisions and potentially faster patient recovery. They make money not just by selling these expensive machines, but by charging for the specialised instruments and maintenance services required for every single procedure. What moves the needle here is how many hospitals continue to adopt this technology and how often they use the robots for new types of surgeries.
On our factor screen it looks strongest on quality and growth, and weakest on income.
- !Pays no dividend - the whole return rides on the share price
- ✓Growing - revenue up about 18% over the year
- ✓Very profitable - turns about 28% of sales into profit
- !High P/E of 46 - big growth is already priced in
- ✓Strong return on shareholder money (ROE 17%)
- Quality screens high
- Value screens low
- Momentum screens low
- Income screens low
Does Intuitive Surgical, Inc. pay a dividend?
No - Intuitive Surgical, Inc. doesn't currently pay a dividend, so the whole return would rest on the share price. Plenty of growing companies reinvest their profits instead of paying them out - neither approach is better or worse, they're just different.
What do Intuitive Surgical, Inc.'s numbers mean?
How has it performed?
Growth of £1,000, the worst fall, and year by year
Over about 2 years to 2026-09-11. This is the share price only; any dividends would add to it. And it's the USD return - as a UK investor your actual £ return also moves with the exchange rate. Past performance is not a guide to the future, and it could just as easily have fallen.
How much has Intuitive Surgical, Inc. actually fallen?
Over the last 2 years of daily prices, Intuitive Surgical, Inc. fell as much as −46% from a high to a later low. Falls like this are normal when you own a share.
Past falls are not a forecast - it can fall further, or recover.
How has it done year by year?
Calendar-year total return - the share price with dividends reinvested - from adjusted closing prices. The current year is only part-complete. Past returns are not a guide to the future.
A closer look at the numbers
Ownership, earnings history, where the money goes, and the outlook range
Does the share price tell you if it's cheap or expensive?
Who owns Intuitive Surgical, Inc.?
About 89% of Intuitive Surgical, Inc., or about 89 in every 100 shares, is held by big institutions such as pension and index funds, and company insiders hold about 1%. The rest, roughly 10%, is held by the public and smaller investors.
What this does and doesn't tell you
This is a recent snapshot of the share register, and it moves. We don't read anything into who owns what - a high institutional share is common for any large listed company and is not a signal about it.
Based on beta - how much the price swings versus the whole market. Bumpier isn't bad; it just means a rougher ride, which matters more the sooner you might need the money.
Prices move on results, news and the mood of the whole market - no single headline explains a day, and a quiet week is usually just noise, not a signal.
How much money does Intuitive Surgical, Inc. make?
Revenue and profit by quarter, and how much of each sale turns into profit.
Where does each £100 of Intuitive Surgical, Inc.'s sales go?
A rough split of the latest full-year figures: of every £100 of sales, about £33 covers making the product or service, £39 goes on running costs, tax and interest, and about £28 is left as profit. Margins vary a lot by industry, and one-off items can distort a single year.
When does Intuitive Surgical, Inc. report earnings, and how did recent quarters go?
Intuitive Surgical, Inc. is next scheduled to report on about 2026-10-20 - dates can move, and we don't predict results; this just tells you when to look.
‘Beat’ and ‘missed’ are against what analysts expected, not whether the business is doing well.
| Reported | Expected EPS: The earnings per share analysts expected for the quarter - the average of their forecasts. 'Beating' or 'missing' is measured against this number. | Actual EPS | vs expected |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-07-16 | $2.50 | $2.80 | Beat +12% |
| 2026-04-21 | $2.11 | $2.50 | Beat +19% |
| 2026-01-22 | $2.27 | $2.53 | Beat +12% |
| 2025-10-21 | $1.99 | $2.40 | Beat +21% |
| 2025-07-22 | $1.92 | $2.19 | Beat +14% |
| 2025-04-22 | $1.73 | $1.81 | Beat +4% |
Across the last 6 quarters here, Intuitive Surgical, Inc. came in ahead of what analysts expected 6 times. One quarter is noise, not a trend.
See who else reports over the next two weeks →
Where these figures come from
Each quarter a company reports its results against a consensus of analyst forecasts. The figures here are reported versus expected earnings per share from published results; the expectation is that analyst consensus, not our view. Report dates are estimates and can move.
What are the scenarios for Intuitive Surgical, Inc.?
An illustrative range for the year ahead — not a prediction or a price target.
What are the pros, cons and common questions?
The case each way, and the questions people ask
Robotic surgery becomes the standard of care for a wider range of medical specialties.
Technological disruption or significant changes in healthcare reimbursement policies.
What are the pros and cons of Intuitive Surgical, Inc.?
A balance check, not a score or verdict.
- High profit margins suggest a very strong and efficient business model.
- Recurring revenue from tools and services provides a stable income stream.
- Strong market position as a pioneer in robotic-assisted surgery.
- The shares are priced at a premium, which can make them sensitive to market sentiment.
- No dividend payments mean investors rely entirely on share price growth.
- High reliance on hospitals having the budget for expensive capital equipment.
- Increased competition from other medical technology firms entering the robotic space.
- Potential changes in how healthcare systems pay for robotic procedures.
- High volatility compared to the broader market due to the high beta.
The write-up's own warning lights — if these start happening, the case above changes.
- A sustained decline in the number of surgeries performed using their robots.
- A major technological breakthrough from a competitor that makes their systems obsolete.
Common questions about Intuitive Surgical, Inc.
Does Intuitive Surgical, Inc. pay a dividend?
No - Intuitive Surgical, Inc. does not currently pay a dividend, so the return would rest on the share price. Many growing companies reinvest profits instead of paying them out.
When does Intuitive Surgical, Inc. report earnings next?
Intuitive Surgical, Inc. is next scheduled to report results on about 2026-10-20. Report dates are estimates and can move; this is a diary note for when to look, not a forecast of the outcome.
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Craneware plcBuilt from public filings & market prices, checked for an education-only tone, and never a price target. How we make these →
This plain-English summary was auto-generated on 2026-08-02 from public data and checked for an education-only, no-advice tone (the figures above carry their own, usually fresher, 'as of' date). It's information, never a recommendation.