Intuitive Surgical Falls Three Weeks After Ro Khanna’s Sale

Intuitive Surgical (ISRG:US) shares fell about 5% in Thursday’s after-hours trading after the Medtech company reported second-quarter results. While Intuitive delivered better-than-expected results on top and bottom lines, the earnings beat was spoiled by a continued decline in growth rates for bariatric surgery in the U.S. 

The company said its sales rose 15% year-over-year to $1.76 billion, just ahead of the consensus of $1.74 billion. While the Instruments and accessories business’ revenue gained 20% YoY, sales in the Systems business segment rose just 4.7% YoY to $392.7 million, missing the consensus for revenue of $413.5 million. 

On the bottom line, the adjusted EPS topped analyst expectations by 10 cents. The company said its global procedure growth jumped 22%, ahead of the consensus for a growth of 18.2%. The number of Da Vinci Surgical Systems – the company’s flagship product – now exceeds 8,000 after the 13% YoY growth recorded in Q2. 

“Our core business was lifted by positive surgical trends and continued interest in robotic-assisted surgery compared with other surgical approaches. We continue to focus on supporting our customers’ adoption, pursuing expanded indications, delivering excellence in quality and supply, and increasing productivity as we scale our business,” said Gary Guthart, Intuitive CEO.

The drop in ISRG shares comes just about 3 weeks after Representative Ro Khanna reported the $100,000 - $250,000 sale of the company’s stock by his spouse. Rep. Khanna made the transaction on June 29, when the stock closed at $338.49.

Following the soft market reaction to solid Q2 results, ISRG shares dropped about 5% to trade around the $330 mark. Congressman Khanna’s child also made a sale, previously on June 26.

His colleagues Daniel Goldman and Josh Gottheimer were buying the stock, which is up nearly 30% year-to-date, earlier this year.