October 18, 2026
Bonus Content: Intuitive Surgical Reports Tuesday. It Has Already Beaten Four Times in a Row.
Dear Reader,
If you haven’t yet checked out this video below from my colleague Jen Stevens at International Living, don’t miss it. At a time when travel costs are increasing (along with the cost of everything from groceries to gas), she can show you how to save.
Because, as Jen explains, you don’t need to be rich to travel like you are. You just need the right shortcuts. I encourage you to check out her message, below…
Dear Reader,
One of the great pleasures of relaxing into a corner of the planet – and not just dipping in on a tour, like a lot of vacationers do – is that you can take a leisurely approach to exploration. Soak up the feel of a place. Make a rough plan in the morning and just see how your days unfold.
Jen Stevens here from International Living with some travel guidance for youfrom the South of France. Mine might sound like a wealthy-person’s approach to travel, but you don’t have to be super wealthy and famous to live a high-flying international life… to enjoy a retirement that’s rich with experiences you’ve always wanted to have…
I’m not rich. I just travel like I am…
It is 100% possible to live in comfort, travel often, and not worry about whether you’ll outlive your nest egg…
You just need to know the shortcuts.
I made you a video that talks about a bunch of them, here.
Warmly,
Jennifer Stevens
Executive Editor, International Living
P.S. All sorts of amazing shortcuts exist that can allow you to travel better than you do now but spend way, way less than you assume you have to.
I’m talking about little-known ways you can enjoy a genuinely international life… no skimping required. This is high-end travel without the high-end price tag… shortcuts that lead directly to “the good life.”
- Stay in luxury for 50% what the guy in the next room is paying…
- Winter over with your spouse on a sunny Caribbean island – with the ocean a few blocks away – and do it for $2,500 a month or less, all in, Here’s why.
- Shop for couture-quality clothes at Target prices…
Those are just a few of the shortcuts you can use to live and travel better while you spend less than you would to stay home.
Intuitive Surgical Reports Tuesday. It Has Already Beaten Four Times in a Row.
Intuitive Surgical trades at $426 heading into Tuesday’s after-close earnings release, sitting 29% below its 52-week high of $603.88. The stock has gained nearly 12% over the past month as institutional buyers returned, and the business behind the recovery is not hard to explain.
The consensus calls for Q3 EPS of roughly $2.61 to $2.65, an increase of approximately 9% from a year ago, on revenue of $2.88 billion, which would represent growth of about 15% year over year. Those are the targets. The more interesting question is whether ISRG beats them again, as it has in each of the past four quarters.
What Is Actually Driving This Business
Procedure volume is the engine. Combined da Vinci and Ion procedures grew 17% in Q1 and 16% in Q2. For the first half, revenues rose approximately 21% to $5.66 billion. Da Vinci 5, the latest generation system, accounted for 246 of the 468 da Vinci systems placed in Q2, up from 180 a year earlier. The installed base now exceeds 11,700 da Vinci systems globally.
Ion, the lung biopsy platform, is growing even faster. CEO Dave Rosa has described gastrointestinal robotics as a natural extension of the company’s mission, and the Ion platform has now been installed across 12 countries outside the United States. International da Vinci procedure growth ran at 19% in Q1, and management said Q2 procedure growth outside the U.S. was driven primarily by general surgery.
Why the Stock Has Been Frustrating
Despite procedure growth running well ahead of the 13.5% to 15.5% guidance Intuitive gave for 2026, the stock is still deeply below its highs. The valuation premium is real: ISRG trades at roughly 49x trailing earnings. That multiple leaves limited margin for disappointment and is a main reason a Q2 beat still sent the stock sharply lower right after the report.
Competitive pressure in China is a genuine risk. Domestic robotic surgery companies have been gaining share in a market where Intuitive was once unchallenged. Premium valuation in a market that just handed the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index its worst eight-day streak since 2008 adds to the vulnerability.
The competitive pressure in China is not unique to Intuitive. Medtronic faces its own product-cycle test in surgical robotics with Hugo, where new launches must offset a maturing core portfolio.
What Would Change the Picture
The key number to watch is procedure volume growth, specifically whether Q3 maintained anything close to the 16% pace of Q2. System placements matter second. And then gross margin: management kept full-year 2026 non-GAAP gross margin guidance at 68% to 69% after Q2, with the company noting tariffs as an ongoing factor. Holding that range in Q3 would help confirm the operating leverage the bull case requires.
UBS maintains a Buy rating with a $500 target. The consensus average across 22 analysts sits near $499. At $426, the implied upside is roughly 17%.
The analyst consensus dynamic at ISRG mirrors a pattern seen elsewhere in MedTech this cycle. Abbott’s Q2 beat showed how a guidance raise above consensus can reprice a large-cap medical device stock that the market had already written off.
The Bottom Line
Intuitive Surgical is not cheap. It never has been. But the procedure flywheel, da Vinci 5 adoption, and Ion expansion represent a compounding growth engine that few medical device companies can match. Tuesday’s report is the next test of whether the business momentum can outrun a 49x multiple.
