By the numbers
Q3 revenue: $2.51 billion
23% increase year over year
Net income: $704 million
25% increase year over year
Da Vinci placements: 427
Compared with 379 in Q3 2024
Da Vinci 5 placements: 240
Compared with 110 in Q3 2024
The number of procedures performed with Intuitive Surgical’s flagship da Vinci system picked up pace in the third quarter, lifting the robot maker’s sales and earnings above Wall Street forecasts.
Total procedures increased year over year by 20% worldwide, compared to 17% in the second quarter, which was the rate for all of 2024. Meanwhile, revenue rose 23% year over year to $2.51 billion, surpassing the average analyst forecast by $10 million, according to Citi Research.
“Procedure demand has been healthy,” Intuitive CEO Dave Rosa said on Tuesday’s earnings call.
Adjusted earnings per share of $2.40 beat the analyst consensus forecast of $1.99, according to Citi.
Intuitive’s shares rose nearly 15% to trade at $531.71 on Wednesday morning on the New York Stock Exchange.
Coming into the quarter, investors had feared weaker hospital capital equipment purchases and competition from suppliers that remanufacture surgical instruments could weigh on Intuitive’s results, RBC Capital Markets analyst Shagun Singh wrote after the call. The third-quarter outperformance, however, “should help investors re-build confidence” in Intuitive, the analyst added.
Intuitive said strong system placements, accelerating adoption of its new da Vinci 5 robot, and growing use of the company’s single port and Ion lung biopsy systems contributed to the quarter’s momentum. The company placed 427 da Vinci systems, compared with 379 in the same period a year ago.
Da Vinci procedures rose about 19%, and Ion procedures grew about 52%.
The company now expects da Vinci procedures to increase year over year by 17% to 17.5% in 2025, above its prior forecast of 15.5% to 17%. In 2024, procedures grew 17%.
Da Vinci 5 launch, Medicare concerns
Adoption of the da Vinci 5 robot, which saw its first full quarter of broad availability in the U.S., supported overall procedure growth, company executives said on the call. The system is designed for greater efficiency and to be easier to learn and use.
CFO Jamie Samath said some elective procedures may have been pulled forward to July and August due to concerns about Medicare funding and Affordable Care Act premium changes. However, he added that customer reports of demand increasing for those reasons are anecdotal and not yet supported by data.
