Intuitive Surgical (ISRG), a maker of robotic-surgery systems, late Tuesday posted Q2 earnings and revenue that handily beat Wall Street expectations, sending shares rising after hours.
Earnings per share minus items rose 23% from the year-earlier quarter, to $5.62, while sales rose 14%, to $670 million.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected $4.97 and $640.7 million.
The maker of da Vinci surgical systems, for minimally invasive surgery, didn't provide guidance in its earnings release. Analysts expect EPS ex items this quarter of $5.16, down 1.5%, on sales of $647.5 million, up 10%.
Intuitive Surgical stock was up nearly 5% in after-hours trading, after the company released its results. Shares rose a fraction in Tuesday's regular session, to 671.90. Intuitive stock hit an all-time high of 681.59 on July 11, after moving out of a flat base at a 654.98 buy point on June 23. So, shares remain within buy range.
Da Vinci's success has spawned more competition. Alphabet's (GOOGL) Verily unit, formerly Google Life Sciences, has teamed with Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) on advanced surgical robots. Early Tuesday, J&J posted a Q2 earnings beat, and Johnson & Johnson stock hit a record high Tuesday, closing up 1.7% at 125.25. Medtronic (MDT) made a big move into this field with its acquisition last year of Covidien.
The company said the number of da Vinci procedures rose nearly 16% in Q2 vs. Q2 2015, while it shipped 130 da Vinci systems vs. 118 in Q2 2015.
In a pre-earnings research note, Leerink analyst Richard Newitter said Intuitive was increasingly benefiting from the "next leg of growth" for its da Vinci Xi system, launched in 2014.
