Intuitive Surgical: Earnings Preview

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (ISRG) is scheduled to report its Q2 2012 results on July 19, 2012, after the bell. The street expects EPS and revenue of $3.53 and $521.77M, respectively.

In this article I will recap the historical results of the company, its latest EPS estimates vs. surprises, the latest news from ISRG and the news from its closest competitors.

Recent EPS Actuals vs. Estimates

The company has met or beaten analysts' estimates in the last four quarters. In the last quarter it reported $3.50 EPS, beating analyst estimates of $3.14.

The consensus EPS estimate is $3.53 based on 15 analysts' estimates, up from $2.91 a year ago. Revenue estimates are $521.77M, up from $425.70M a year ago. The median target price by analysts for the stock is $572.50.

Average recommendation: Hold

Source: Marketwatch

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

• On April 18, 2012, JMP Securities reiterated Mkt Outperform rating for the company.
• On April 18, 2012, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated Hold rating for the company.
• On January 17, 2012, JMP Securities reiterated Mkt Outperform rating for the company.

Latest News

• On June 12, 2012, Intuitive Surgical announced that for fiscal 2012, it expects revenue to grow 19%-21%. The Company reported revenues of $1.757 billion in fiscal 2011.
• On April 17, 2012, Intuitive Surgical announced that for fiscal 2012, it expects revenue to grow 19%-21%. The Company reported revenues of $1.743 billion in fiscal 2011.
• On March 28, 2012, Luna Innovations Incorporated announced that it will be extending its development work through 2012 under its development and supply agreement with Intuitive Surgical, Inc., as they work towards the integration of Luna's shape and position sensing technology into Intuitivism medical robotic products.
• On January 19, 2012, Intuitive Surgical announced that it expects fiscal 2012 revenue growth to be 17%-19%. The Company reported revenues of $1.743 billion in fiscal 2011.

Competitors

Edwards Lifesciences (EW), MAKO Surgical (MAKO), Medtronic (MDT), and Zimmer Holdings (ZMH) are considered major competitors for Intuitive Surgical and the table below provides the key metrics for these companies and the industry.

The chart below compares the stock price changes as a percentage for the selected companies and S&P 500 index for the last one year period.

(click to enlarge)

ISRG data by YCharts

Competitors' Latest Development

• On July 6, 2012, Law Offices of Todd M. Garber announced that shareholders of MAKO Surgical Corp. (MAKO or the Company) have until July 9, 2012 to move for lead plaintiff status in the shareholder lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida against MAKO and certain of its executive officers.
• On July 3, 2012, Levi & Korsinsky announced that a class action lawsuit has been commenced in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida on behalf of investors who purchased MAKO Surgical Corporation common stock between January 9, 2012 and May 7, 2012.
• On June 15, 2012, Zimmer Holdings, Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a cash dividend to stockholders for the second quarter of 2012. The cash dividend of $0.18 per share will be paid on or about July 27, 2012, to stockholders of record as of the close of business on June 28, 2012.
• On June 14, 2012, Edwards Lifesciences Corporation announced that a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Advisory Panel voted in favor of recommending approval of the Edwards SAPIEN transcatheter heart valve via transfemoral and transapical delivery for the treatment of high-risk patients with severe, symptomatic aortic stenosis.
• On June 11, 2012, Reuters reported that U.S. Food and Drug Administration staff said that Edwards Lifesciences Corp's Sapien heart valve met its primary safety and effectiveness goals in research, but expressed caution about the risk of stroke and aortic leakage.
• On June 8, 2012, Edwards Lifesciences Corporation announced that it has received conditional Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to initiate a clinical trial to study its GLX tissue treatment platform applied to a surgical bovine pericardial heart valve.
• On May 22, 2012, Medtronic Inc announced that for fiscal 2013, it expects revenue growth in the range of 2% to 4% on a constant currency basis. The company expects fiscal 2013 diluted earnings per share (EPS) in the range of $3.62 to $3.70, which implies EPS growth of 5% to 7%. The Company reported revenue of $16.184 billion in fiscal 2012.
• On May 16, 2012, Reuters reported that the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Attorney's Office have closed their investigation related to omission of safety issues of Medtronic Inc's controversial orthopedic product Infuse and its off-lable use. Infuse came under scrutiny after the influential Spine Journal noted that surgeons, who were paid tens of millions of dollars by Medtronic, failed to report serious complications from bioengineered bone-growth protein, including cancer, sterility in men and bone dissolution.
• On April 26, 2012, Zimmer Holdings, Inc. reaffirmed its constant currency revenue and adjusted EPS guidance for fiscal 2012. In addition, the Company updated its fiscal 2012 reported revenue and EPS guidance.
• On April 24, 2012, Edwards Lifesciences Corporation announced that for second quarter of 2012, it expects total sales in the range of $470-$500 million and diluted earnings per share , excluding special items, to be between $0.64-$0.68. For fiscal 2012, sales at the low end of original range of $1.95 billion to $2.05 billion, which is approximately 20% underlying growth.
• On April 10, 2012, Medtronic Inc announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved an expanded indication for its cardiac resynchronization therapy with implantable cardioverter defibrillator (CRT-D) devices.
• On March 25, 2012, Medtronic Inc announced that the Symplicity renal denervation system provides safe, significant and sustained blood pressure reduction up to three years in patients with treatment-resistant hypertension, according to data from two clinical trials presented at the 2012 American College of Cardiology (ACC) meeting.
• On March 24, 2012, Medtronic Inc announced results from its prospective, single-arm clinical trial evaluating the Medtronic CoreValve System in patients with severe aortic stenosis who are at high-risk for surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR).
• On March 14, 2012, Medtronic Inc announced that it has a registered offering of $675 million of its 3.125% Senior Notes due 2022 and $400 million of its 4.50% Senior Notes due 2042.
• On February 21, 2012, Medtronic, Inc. announced that for fiscal 2012, it reiterated its revenue outlook and tightened diluted earnings per share guidance range to $3.44 to $3.47, which includes approximately $0.04 to $0.06 of dilution from the Ardian acquisition.
• On February 17, 2012, Medtronic, Inc. announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the Resolute Integrity Drug-Eluting Stent (DES) for the treatment of coronary artery disease (CAD).
• On February 16, 2012, Medtronic Inc announced that the Board of Directors has approved a cash dividend of $0.2425 per share of the Company's common stock. The dividend is payable on April 27, 2012, to shareholders of record at the close of business on April 6, 2012.
• On February 2, 2012, Edwards Lifesciences Corporation announced that for the first quarter of 2012, it project total sales of $440 million to $460 million and continue to expect fiscal 2012 sales of $1.95 to $2.05 billion.
• On February 1, 2012, Medtronic Inc announced the initiation and first patient enrollment in a clinical study that will evaluate gaps in the implementation of evidence-based treatment guidelines among chronic heart failure patients post-hospital discharge.
• On January 30, 2012, Medtronic Inc announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval and launch of the DF4 High-Voltage Connector System, a right ventricular lead and connector used with implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) and cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators (CRT-Ds) to detect and accurately treat potentially life-threatening heart rhythms.

Technical Overview

The stock has a market capitalization of $21.44B and is currently trading at $540.04 with a 52 week range of $320.00 - $594.89. The stock's year-to-date performance has been 16.64%. It is currently trading above 200 SMA, but below 20 and 50 SMA.

Sources: Yahoo Finance, Google Finance, Marketwatch, Finviz, Reuters.

Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.