MMarketMath

ISRG

Fast growerQuality: High (80/100)1 red flag

Intuitive Surgical · Health Care · Health Care Equipment

$373.57

52w 328.57 – 603.88

20y monthly, adjusted

Mkt cap

$132.0B

P/E

46.2

P/FCF

53.0

FCF yield

1.9%

ROE

16.0%

Shldr yield

1.7%

div 0.0% + bb 1.7%

What today's price assumes

At $132.0B, the market is pricing in 21.0% annual free-cash-flow growth for the next decade (10% discount rate, 2.5% terminal growth). Over the last ten years, FCF actually grew 13.1% per year — the price asks for acceleration beyond the historical record.

Simple DCF per-share range: $107 · $210 · $262 (4% / base / optimistic growth). An estimate, not a target.

Adjust the assumptions yourself →

Historical multiple lens

At its own median P/OCF of 41.8× across 19 years, ISRG would trade near $359/share (25th–75th percentile: $228–$485); it trades at 43.5× today.

Assumes the historical multiple regime persists — re-ratings can be permanent.

Growth record

Compound annual growth rates from as-filed 10-K data, split-adjusted

Rev 3y

+17.4%

Rev 5y

+18.2%

Rev 10y

+15.5%

EPS 5y

+21.8%

EPS 10y

+16.4%

FCF 5y

+16.9%

FCF 10y

+13.1%

Fundamentals

Fiscal 2007–2025, from SEC filings

Revenue

2007: $600.8M
2008: $874.9M
2009: $1.1B
2010: $1.4B
2011: $1.8B
2012: $2.2B
2013: $2.3B
2014: $2.1B
2015: $2.4B
2016: $2.7B
2017: $3.1B
2018: $3.7B
2019: $4.5B
2020: $4.4B
2021: $5.7B
2022: $6.2B
2023: $7.1B
2024: $8.4B
2025: $10.1B
$0$5.0B$10.0B
07
11
15
19
23

Net income

2007: $144.5M
2008: $204.3M
2009: $232.6M
2010: $381.8M
2011: $495.1M
2012: $656.6M
2013: $671.0M
2014: $418.8M
2015: $588.8M
2016: $738.3M
2017: $670.9M
2018: $1.1B
2019: $1.4B
2020: $1.1B
2021: $1.7B
2022: $1.3B
2023: $1.8B
2024: $2.3B
2025: $2.9B
$0$1.0B$2.0B
07
11
15
19
23

Free cash flow

2007: $181.7M
2008: $172.2M
2009: $338.8M
2010: $449.8M
2011: $594.7M
2012: $700.0M
2013: $775.4M
2014: $559.5M
2015: $725.2M
2016: $1.0B
2017: $953.2M
2018: $982.2M
2019: $1.2B
2020: $1.1B
2021: $1.7B
2022: $958.4M
2023: $749.6M
2024: $1.3B
2025: $2.5B
$0$1.0B$2.0B
07
11
15
19
23

Diluted shares (lower is better)

2007: 355.0M
2008: 363.0M
2009: 356.7M
2010: 366.7M
2011: 365.8M
2012: 373.9M
2013: 364.9M
2014: 343.0M
2015: 343.0M
2016: 355.7M
2017: 350.9M
2018: 358.4M
2019: 358.4M
2020: 361.0M
2021: 365.8M
2022: 362.0M
2023: 357.4M
2024: 362.0M
2025: 362.7M
0100.0M200.0M300.0M
07
11
15
19
23

Margins

20%40%60%07101316192225
Net marginFCF marginGross margin

Capital returned (dividends + buybacks)

2007: $0
2008: $0
2009: $150.0M
2010: $198.6M
2011: $331.8M
2012: $238.3M
2013: $1.1B
2014: $1.0B
2015: $183.7M
2016: $42.5M
2017: $2.3B
2018: $0
2019: $269.5M
2020: $134.3M
2021: $0
2022: $2.6B
2023: $416.3M
2024: $0
2025: $2.3B
$0$1.0B$2.0B
07
11
15
19
23

Cash vs long-term debt

$0$1.0B$2.0B$3.0B07101316192225
CashLT debt

Quarterly

Discrete quarters from 10-Q filings; Q4 derived as fiscal year minus Q1–Q3. OCF is unwound from the year-to-date figures 10-Qs report. Compare to the same quarter a year ago — most businesses are seasonal.

Revenue by quarter

Q2'23: $1.8B
Q3'23: $1.7B
Q4'23: $1.9B
Q1'24: $1.9B
Q2'24: $2.0B
Q3'24: $2.0B
Q4'24: $2.4B
Q1'25: $2.3B
Q2'25: $2.4B
Q3'25: $2.5B
Q4'25: $2.9B
Q1'26: $2.8B
Q2'26: $2.9B
$0$1.0B$2.0B
23
24
24
25
26

Net income by quarter

Q2'23: $420.8M
Q3'23: $415.7M
Q4'23: $606.2M
Q1'24: $544.9M
Q2'24: $526.9M
Q3'24: $565.1M
Q4'24: $685.7M
Q1'25: $698.4M
Q2'25: $658.4M
Q3'25: $704.4M
Q4'25: $794.8M
Q1'26: $821.5M
Q2'26: $818.1M
$0$250.0M$500.0M$750.0M
23
24
24
25
26
QuarterRevenueYoYNet incomeYoYEPSOCF
Q2'26$2.9B+18.5%$818.1M+24.3%2.29$1.1B
Q1'26$2.8B+23.0%$821.5M+17.6%2.28$911.9M
Q4'25 *$2.9B+18.8%$794.8M+15.9%2.19$892.5M
Q3'25$2.5B+22.9%$704.4M+24.7%1.95$841.0M
Q2'25$2.4B+21.4%$658.4M+25.0%1.81$715.4M
Q1'25$2.3B+19.2%$698.4M+28.2%1.92$581.6M
Q4'24 *$2.4B+25.2%$685.7M+13.1%1.89$822.6M
Q3'24$2.0B+16.9%$565.1M+35.9%1.56$706.5M
Q2'24$2.0B+14.5%$526.9M+25.2%1.46$620.5M
Q1'24$1.9B+11.5%$544.9M+53.4%1.51$265.4M
Q4'23 *$1.9B+16.5%$606.2M+86.6%1.69$228.3M
Q3'23$1.7B+12.0%$415.7M+28.3%1.16$548.4M
Q2'23$1.8B+15.4%$420.8M+36.7%1.18$665.7M

Track record

Compound annual growth by period. For debt and share count, negative is the good direction.

Series3y5y10y15y
Revenue+17.4%+18.2%+15.5%+14.0%
Operating cash flow+26.7%+15.3%+14.2%+12.1%
Free cash flow+37.5%+16.9%+13.1%+12.1%
EPS (diluted)+29.2%+21.8%+16.4%+14.4%
Equity+17.3%+12.9%+15.2%+15.6%
LT debt
Diluted shares+0.1%+0.1%+0.6%−0.1%
Stock price+6.1%+1.2%+17.2%+15.6%

$100, 3 years ago

$119vs $176 in SPY

6.1% vs 20.7%/yr

$100, 5 years ago

$106vs $181 in SPY

1.2% vs 12.6%/yr

$100, 10 years ago

$490vs $412 in SPY

17.2% vs 15.2%/yr

$100, 15 years ago

$882vs $813 in SPY

15.6% vs 15.0%/yr

The $1 test — market value created per $1 of earnings retained (Buffett's hurdle: at least $1)

Last 5 years

$9.29

$92.9B created / $10.0B retained

Last 10 years

$10.83

$162.3B created / $15.0B retained

Quality & capital discipline

Cash-based returns and how management deploys capital

Cash ROIC

17.0%

OCF ÷ (equity + debt)

OCF / EV yield

2.4%

MC vs 10× OCF

4.35

≤1 = priced under 10× OCF

Debt / FCF

SBC / FCF

31.6%

Owner earnings

$1.7B

OCF − capex − SBC

OE yield

1.3%

Share count 5y

+0.1%

per year; negative = buybacks

Capital intensity

53.1%

net PP&E ÷ revenue

Sales efficiency

$0.66

new PP&E per $1 new revenue, 5y

Growth engine (5y): reinvested 58.6% of operating cash flow at an incremental return of 24.4% — an organically fundable growth rate of about 14.3% per year (growth ≈ reinvestment rate × incremental ROIC).

Checklist

20 of 26 checks pass · 77%. Checks with structurally missing inputs are excluded.

Growth & Consistency

6/7

  • Revenue growth

    18.2% · 5y CAGR ≥ 5%

    pass
  • EPS growth

    21.8% · 5y CAGR ≥ 5%

    pass
  • FCF growth

    16.9% · 5y CAGR ≥ 5%

    pass
  • Revenue rises consistently

    8 of 9 · up in ≥ 7 of last 10 years

    pass
  • FCF consistently positive

    10 of 10 · positive in ≥ 8 of last 10 years

    pass
  • Profitable every year

    10 of 10 · net income > 0 in ≥ 8 of last 10

    pass
  • Cash flow keeps up with sales

    15.3% vs 18.2% · OCF CAGR ≥ 0.9× revenue CAGR

    fail

Profitability

7/7

  • Net margin

    28.4% · ≥ 8%

    pass
  • Operating margin

    29.3% · ≥ 10%

    pass
  • Gross margin stable or rising

    66.0% vs 67.4% · no drop > 2 pts over 3y

    pass
  • Return on equity

    16.0% · ≥ 12%

    pass
  • Cash ROIC

    17.0% · ≥ 12%

    pass
  • FCF margin

    24.7% · ≥ 5%

    pass
  • Earnings back their cash

    OCF $3.0B vs NI $2.9B · OCF ≥ net income (latest FY)

    pass

Balance Sheet

4/4

  • Debt payable from cash flow

    no debt · LT debt ≤ 3× FCF

    pass
  • Cash cushion

    · cash ≥ 50% of LT debt

    pass
  • Leverage

    · LT debt ≤ 1.5× equity

    pass
  • Equity positive and compounding

    $17.8B · equity > 0 and grew over ~5y

    pass
  • Interest burden

    · interest ≤ 15% of operating income

    na

Capital Allocation

3/4

  • Share count flat or shrinking

    0.1% · ≤ +0.5%/yr over ~5y

    pass
  • Stock comp restrained

    32% · SBC ≤ 15% of FCF

    fail
  • Distributions funded by FCF

    92% · dividends + buybacks ≤ 100% of FCF

    pass
  • Repurchases are a habit

    7 of 10 · buybacks in ≥ 5 of last 10 years

    pass

Valuation Discipline

0/4

  • FCF yield

    1.9% · ≥ 3%

    fail
  • Earnings multiple

    46.2 · P/E ≤ 25

    fail
  • Price asks less than history delivered

    21.0% vs 13.1% · implied FCF growth ≤ historical FCF CAGR

    fail
  • Shareholder yield

    1.7% · dividends + buybacks ≥ 2% of market cap

    fail

Red flags

Mechanical checks — a flag is a question to investigate, not a verdict

Heavy stock compensation

Stock-based compensation consumes more than 30% of free cash flow.

Financial data

As filed in 10-Ks; per-share figures split-adjusted. $ in millions.

FYRevenueGross profitOp incomeNet incomeEPSOCFCapExFCFDividendsBuybacksSBCCashLT debtEquityShares
202510,0656,6422,9462,8567.873,0315402,4912,2957883,36817,824363
20248,3525,6342,3492,3236.422,4151,1111,30406772,02716,434362
20237,1244,7301,7671,7985.031,8141,0647504165932,75013,308357
20226,2224,1961,5771,3223.651,4915329582,6075131,58111,042362
20215,7103,9591,8211,7054.662,0893401,75004491,29111,901366
20204,3582,8611,0501,0612.941,4853421,1431343951,6239,732361
20194,4793,1101,3751,3793.851,5984261,1732703361,1688,264358
20183,7242,6041,1991,1283.151,17018798202618586,679358
20173,1382,2021,0636711.911,1441919532,2742096484,779351
20162,7071,8939507382.081,087541,033431781,0375,778356
20152,3841,5787405891.72806817251841687154,320343
20142,1321,4145454191.226651065601,0001696003,379343
20132,2651,5948536711.848801057751,1091697823,501365
20122,1791,5708786571.768141147002381535543,580374
20111,7571,2746954951.35678835953321364662,646366
20101,4131,0305553821.04546964501991182802,037367
20091,0527513772330.6539253339150972211,537357
20088756213112040.562781061720771951,267363
20076014142071450.4120624182036123889355

Some concepts are structurally absent for certain industries (banks report no gross profit or capex). Missing ≠ zero.