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Intuitive Surgical Inc. yesterday posted first-quarter results that exceeded Wall Street’s consensus forecast while increasing its forecast for full-year procedure growth.

The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based surgical robotics leader reported profits of $545 million, or $1.51 per diluted share, for the three months ended March 31, 2024, up 53% from the first quarter of 2023. Total revenue was $1.89 billion for the quarter, up 11% from the same period a year ago.

Intuitive cited growth in the volume of robot-assisted surgical procedures and an increase in its installed base of systems. Global da Vinci procedures grew approximately 16% from the same quarter a year ago. The company, which traded as ISRG, placed 313 da Vinci surgical systems during the quarter, compared with 312 from the prior-year period.

Intuitive’s total installed base climbed to 8,887 systems, up 14% from a year ago. Eight of the systems placed in the first quarter of 2024 were Intuitive’s next-generation da Vinci 5.

“The core measures of our business remained healthy this quarter, as we reached meaningful milestones across several parts of our business,” said Intuitive CEO Gary Guthart in a release. “We are pleased by feedback from our measured da Vinci 5 launch, as well as the continued adoption of SP and Ion, and we remain focused on delivering the goals we share with our customers, including improving patient outcomes.”

Intuitive also reports increasing accessory sales

Intuitive reported an 18% increase in sales of instruments and accessories to $1.16 billion, driven by the growth of da Vinci procedure volume and a 90% growth in Ion procedure volume.

Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share (EPS) were $1.50, $0.09 ahead of the Street, where analysts were looking for EPS of $1.41 on sales of $1.87 billion. The company increased its forecast for full-year procedure growth from a 13% to 16% range to 14% to 17%.

“The low end of the range assumes further weakness and bariatric procedures along with challenges in China from increasing provincial robotic competition and delayed tenders impacting capital placements and therefore procedure growth,” said Brian King, head of investor relations at Intuitive, on a call with executives to discuss the results. “We also assume there is no benefit patient backlog in the year.”

“At the high end of the range, we assume bariatrics continues at flat to slightly positive growth rates, and factors in China don’t have a significant impact on our business,” he added. “In addition, we assume any backlog of patients would decline throughout the year.”

Investors reacted positively to the results, with ISRG shares rising 3% to $385 apiece in after-hours trading.

Learn more at DeviceTalks Boston, Robotics Summit

Brian Miller, executive vice president and chief digital officer at Intuitive Surgical, will be keynoting DeviceTalks Boston, which is co-located with the Robotics Summit & Expo. The events takes place on May 1 and 2 at the Boston Convention Center.

Miller’s talk is slated for 4:15 p.m. ET on the first day of the event. 

According to WTWH Media, which produces The Robot Report, the Robotics Summit, MassDevice, and DeviceTalks, this will be the largest one yet. The event will include more than 200 exhibitors, various networking opportunities, a Women in Robotics breakfast, a career fair, an engineering theater, a startup showcase, and more! Registration is now open for the event.

 

Editor’s note: This article was syndicated from The Robot Report sibling site MassDevice.