Intuitive Surgical (Nasdaq:ISRG) today posted second-quarter results that topped the consensus forecast on Wall Street.
Investors, though, appear to have wanted more from the results. Shares of ISRG fell nearly 8% to $370.94 apiece after the market closed today. (The next morning, they were down more than 11% to $356.20 apiece. The S&P 50 was down 0.6%.)
The Sunnyvale, California–based surgical robotics leader reported profits of $818.1 million. That equals $2.29 per share on sales of $2.89 billion for the three months ended June 30, 2026.
Intuitive recorded a 0.4% bottom-line slide on a sales increase of 4.4%.
Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share came in at $2.80. That landed 30¢ ahead of expectations on Wall Street. Sales also came in ahead of expectations as experts forecast $2.83 billion in revenue.
Worldwide procedures for both da Vinci robots and Ion endoluminal robots combined grew approximately 16% compared to the same period a year ago. Da Vinci procedures grew approximately 15%, and Ion procedures grew approximately 36%. Intuitive’s install base for da Vinci grew to 11,710 for a 12% year-over-year increase. Ion installations increased to 1,096 systems, marking a 21% uptick.
For the full year, the company expects worldwide da Vinci procedure growth of approximately 13.5% to 15.5%. It expects to come in closer to the midpoint of this range. The company anticipates non-GAAP gross profit margin between 68% and 69% of revenue in 2026, then non-GAAP operating expense growth of 11% to 13% in 2026.
Intuitive expects an estimated impact from tariffs of 1% of revenue in its profit margin projection.
“We are pleased with company performance this quarter, which reflects the strength of our portfolio – from da Vinci and Ion to our growing digital solutions,” said Dave Rosa, Intuitive CEO. “Our commitment to customers around the world – our north star – remains the same: helping them deliver better patient outcomes, better patient and care team experiences, lower costs, and broader access to minimally invasive care.”
The analysts’ take
BTIG analysts Ryan Zimmerman and Iseult McMahon maintain a “Buy” rating for Intuitive following the quarterly results. The analysts do note that a handful of factors contributed to the negative investor reaction to the readout.
“On balance, the quarter itself looked fine, though the combination of softer U.S. Da Vinci procedure growth (~12%) and limited visibility into upside for the remainder of FY26 that continues to weigh on the stock,” the analysts wrote.
Zimmerman and McMahon say some may argue that headwinds prove structural, rather than transitory. They may point to ACA subsidy expirations, benign procedure deferrals and more challenging procedure competition. As a result, Intuitive shares are down nearly 30% this year to date.
“With shares down ~29% YTD and continuing to weaken into results, we acknowledge the market is rarely wrong,” the analysts said. “We believed the pullback was sufficient to step in, and even with constructive commentary from medtech peers signaling a healthier-than-feared environment, admittedly that call has not played out as expected.”
However, the analysts maintain their conviction in Intuitive’s long-term position. They point to a recent survey that reinforces the company’s dominant place in the surgical robotics market “with little sign of erosion.”
“Emerging opportunities in cardiac, GI, and the ASC setting represent compelling incremental growth vectors, and we continue to view the current procedure softness as transitory rather than a signal of structural demand deterioration,” the analysts concluded.
