What happened
Shares of the robotic surgery giant Intuitive Surgical (ISRG 0.63%) rose by as much as 14% on heavy volume in early morning trading Wednesday. The medical device company's shares have pulled back back to a degree since their red-hot start to today's trading session, but they were still up by a healthy 9.85% as of 12:36 p.m. ET Wednesday afternoon.
What's fueling Intuitive's northward move today? After the closing bell Tuesday, Intuitive released its 2022 third-quarter results, which topped Wall Street's consensus estimates from both a bottom and top line standpoint.
So what
Turning to the specifics, Intuitive reported revenue of $1.56 billion for the three month period, an 11% increase over the same period a year ago. Wall Street, by contrast, was expecting revenue to come in at $1.52 billion for the third-quarter. Bottom line-wise, Intuitive posted adjusted earnings of $1.19 per diluted share, beating analysts' adjusted earnings per share estimate by a healthy 4.3%.
Intuitive's management attributed these stronger-than-expected financial results mainly to a sizable uptick in the number of da Vinci procedures during the quarter. The company noted in its press release that robotic surgery procedures were on the rebound following COVID-19 induced disruptions last year.
Now what
Is Intuitive's stock a buy on these upbeat quarterly financial results? I think so. Intuitive is expected to return to healthy levels of top line growth now that the pandemic is over. In 2023, for example, the robotic surgery specialist is forecast to post a whopping 12.4% increase in annual revenue. There aren't many blue chip stocks that can offer that kind of blistering revenue growth on an annual basis.
