Intuitive Surgical (NSDQ:ISRG) posted first-quarter results this evening that beat the consensus forecast on Wall Street — but the company cannot reliably estimate the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Sunnyvale, Calif.–based robot-assisted surgery giant reported profits of $314 million, or $2.62 per share, on sales of $1.1 billion for the three months ended March 31, 2020 — up from $307 million, or $2.56 per diluted share, on sales of $974 million during Q1 2019.
Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share were $2.69, 15¢ ahead of The Street, where analysts were looking EPS of $2.54 on sales of $1.03 billion.
But as previously disclosed, Intuitive Surgical in late March saw what it describes as a significant decline in procedure volume and postponements of system placements in the U.S. and Western Europe as healthcare systems diverted resources to battle the pandemic. The company says it is unable at this time to reliably estimate how the pandemic and resulting economic decline will impact operations and financial results.
“In response to COVID-19, Intuitive’s priorities are the health and safety of those we serve, including care teams, their patients, our employees, our communities and our suppliers,” Intuitive CEO Gary Guthart said in a news release. “While we cannot predict the depth or duration of the disruption caused by the pandemic, we remain committed to our mission and the long-term need to improve patient outcomes.”
Investors reacted by sending ISRG shares up 0.7% to $514 apiece in after-hours trading. MassDevice’s MedTech 100 Index — which includes stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies — was up 0.4% today.
