ISRG Stock: William Blair & Company Initiates Coverage of Intuitive Surgical, Inc. With Outperform Rating
William Blair & Company initiated research coverage of Intuitive
Surgical, Inc. (Nasdaq: ISRG stock) ($270.26), which manufactures and sells
the da Vinci robotic surgical system, with an Outperform rating and
Aggressive Growth company profile.
Analyst Ben Andrew expects the company to generate cash earnings per
share of $6.18 in 2008 and $8.37 in 2009. To date, Intuitive Surgical
has placed 867 da Vinci robots worldwide (647 of those in the United
States) with most clinicians strongly embracing da Vinci as evidenced by
the number of systems sold, the number of cases being performed, and the
efforts of new surgeons to be trained on the system.
“Intuitive Surgical is transforming the field
of surgery with its da Vinci robotic surgery system,”
Andrew said. “Early case conversion from an
open to a robotic approach has been robust for a few procedure types,
and we expect more surgeons to leverage the unique capabilities of da
Vinci in additional procedure types in the coming years—we
believe the platform could become the standard of care in multiple
surgical specialties in the next decade. Given that the company’s
performance and prospects have not gone unnoticed, Intuitive Surgical is
not an inexpensive stock, but we believe long-term investors will be
well rewarded by establishing a core position at current levels and
buying more aggressively on pullbacks.”
William Blair & Company, L.L.C. has received compensation for investment
banking services from the company within the past 12 months, or expects
to receive or intends to seek compensation for investment banking
services in the next 3 months.
William Blair & Company, L.L.C. is a market maker in the security of
this company and may have a long or short position.
William Blair & Company, L.L.C. (www.williamblair.com)
is a Chicago-based investment firm offering investment banking, asset
management, equity research, institutional and private brokerage, and
private capital to individual, institutional, and issuing clients. Since
1935, we have been committed to helping clients achieve their financial
objectives.
For important disclosures and information regarding the firm’s
rating system, valuation methods and potential conflicts of interest,
please visit: http://www.williamblair.com/Pages/news_story_dept.asp?uid=1378&depID=4
