Investing in Intuitive Surgical (ISRG +1.70%) means buying into the global leader in robotic-assisted minimally invasive surgical technology. The company's da Vinci Surgical Systems have assisted surgeons with more than 16 million procedures in 72 countries.
NASDAQ: ISRG
Key Data Points
While the systems naturally attract attention, the company generates more than 80% of its revenue from instruments, accessories, operational leases, and services sold for the da Vinci systems. As such, the company has a long-term, highly profitable recurring revenue stream that will generate earnings and cash flow for many years, making it a highly attractive company.
Here's a guide on how to buy Intuitive Surgical stock and the factors to consider before investing in it.
How to buy Intuitive Surgical stock
The company is listed on the NASDAQ exchange (Intuitive's ticker is ISRG) and has an average daily volume of shares traded of around 1.5 million. At the time of writing, the stock has a market cap of $196 billion. It's a highly liquid stock that investors can buy from a reputable broker.
Stock Ticker
In case you're investing in stocks for the first time, the process for buying Intuitive Surgical stock (or any other publicly listed stock) is as follows:
- Open your brokerage account: Log in to your brokerage account where you handle your investments.
- Search for the stock: Enter the ticker or company name into the search bar to bring up the stock's trading page.
- Decide how many shares to buy: Consider your investment goals and how much of your portfolio you want to allocate to this stock.
- Select order type: Choose between a market order to buy at the current price or a limit order to specify the maximum price you're willing to pay.
- Submit your order: Confirm the details and submit your buy order.
- Review your purchase: Check your portfolio to ensure your order was filled as expected and adjust your investment strategy accordingly.
Shareholder
Should I invest in Intuitive Surgical stock?
Intuitive Surgical is a growth stock rather than a value stock, meaning relatively more of the value in the stock comes from its future earnings and cash-flow streams.
Intuitive Surgical doesn't pay dividends, so it's not a stock for income-seeking investors. It's also not a stock for investors seeking the kind of stellar potential returns (and stellar risk) on offer at speculative early-stage technology companies.
Instead, it's a well-established company with a dominant market position, real earnings, and excellent long-term growth prospects. The company isn't going to disappear overnight. However, every stock has risk, and Intuitive Surgical's risk lies in the possibility that its future growth might not live up to the expectations baked into its lofty valuation.
Intuitive Surgical's growth potential lies in the growing the number of da Vinci Surgical Systems installed worldwide and the increasing sales of its instruments, accessories, and services.
To understand how this model works, consider that a da Vinci system's average selling price ranges from $500,000 to $2.5 million. As of late 2025, nearly 10,000 systems are in place in around the world. For every surgical procedure performed using a da Vinci system, Intuitive generates more revenue in instruments and accessories by employing a razor-and-blade model.
So the company's long-term growth prospects aren't just about new unit placements; the company can also grow its instruments and accessories revenue per system. And Intuitive Surgical has increased its revenue every year since 2017, other than a slight dip in 2020. That includes a 17% year-over-year revenue growth from 2023 to 2024.
Is Intuitive Surgical profitable?
Intuitive Surgical is a profitable healthcare company with an operating income of $2.4 billion in 2024. With its growing base of da Vinci systems, services revenue, and increasing recurring revenue, it's highly likely to grow sales and earnings for many years.
The company's nonrecurring revenue generates the bulk of its profits and is the key to its future earnings. The good news is that it's growing as a share of total revenue (from 71% in 2017 to 84% in 2024), indicating strong demand for the use of its systems in procedures.
Does Intuitive Surgical pay a dividend?
As a company focused on growth, it doesn't pay dividends and is unlikely to do so for the foreseeable future.
Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF)
Will Intuitive Surgical stock split?
Management has already initiated three stock splits along the way. There was a 1:2 stock split in 2003 when the price was less than $2 a share, followed by a 3:1 split in the summer of 2017 and another 3:1 split in May 2021. The last two splits were driven by the spectacular rise in the stock price over the previous few decades (up 22,400% since the start of 2003).
Given that the stock price stood at around $546 a share as of late 2025, management could go for another stock split since there's been a significant appreciation in the share price.
Related investing topics
The bottom line on Intuitive Surgical stock
With an overwhelming first-mover market position and a robust competitive moat, Intuitive Surgical is likely to grow earnings for many years to come. It continues to increase system placements at a double-digit pace, and the outlook for surgical and da Vinci procedures is positive.
An aging population and its technology's safety and efficacy advantages will likely accelerate growth in da Vinci procedures, which means more lucrative instruments and accessories down the line. Company management is astute in encouraging growth via operating leases to boost recurring revenue, and developing new products will encourage trade-ins.
Where the U.S. leads in healthcare and medical devices, the globe tends to follow, and system placements look set for long-term growth outside the U.S. There's a lot to like about the company, and that's why the market is willing to pay a premium for its stock.
Buying into high-quality growth stocks rarely comes with a valuation many investors would feel comfortable with. Even if you aren't comfortable with the current valuation, this is definitely a stock to keep on a watchlist to pick up on some market-led weakness.
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