By Jon Kamp Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES The recession may be catching up to Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG), which issued preliminary fourth-quarter sales late Wednesday that fell short of its prior guidance and Wall Street's view due to softened demand for its expensive surgical robots.
Intuitive also issued revenue guidance for the new year that indicates much slower growth.
The announcement sent the Sunnyvale, Calif., company's shares tumbling in after-hours trading, and they were recently down nearly 17% to $98.15 after slipping 3.5% to close at $117.88 during Wednesday's regular trading session.
The slide follows a more-than-60% dive last year due to worries that the fast-growing company would be stung by financial constraints at hospitals. The company's performance and guidance before Wednesday had generally indicated smooth sailing, but didn't stop the stock from falling.
The company's "da Vinci" surgical robot is an increasingly popular system that is commonly used for prostate and gynecological surgeries, among other procedures. But the system's nearly $1.4 million price tag may be steep for hospitals facing budget troubles and tightened credit markets.
Intuitive said its preliminary revenue for the fourth quarter is about $232 million. While up 22% from a year earlier, the quarterly tally fell well short of the average analyst forecast of $255.1 million, according to Thomson Reuters.
The company said its annual sales total for 2008 is likely to be about $875 million, which misses analysts' estimates and the company's own revenue growth outlook that implied annual sales of between $895.2 million and $901.2 million.
The company said it sold 85 da Vinci systems in the fourth quarter, 55 of which were sold in the U.S.
"Our system sales in the quarter reflect the challenging global economic and financial market environment," said Chairman and Chief Executive Lonnie Smith in a statement. This uncertainty, he said, makes it hard to forecast system placements for 2009, although the company forecasted that systems revenue will be relatively flat.
But Smith also noted that procedure growth remained strong, at about 60% last year, and said procedures are "the leading indicator for the strength of our business." In addition to system sales, the company generates revenue tied to use of its machines.
For the new year, Intuitive forecast sales will grow 15% based on increased instrument, accessories and service revenue. That implies sales of just over $1 billion on the year - analysts had forecast sales of nearly $1.11 billion - and would mark a significant slowdown following the 46% climb in 2008, even with the reduced guidance.
-By Jon Kamp, Dow Jones Newswires; 617-654-6728; jon.kamp@dowjones.com
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Publié le 07 janvier 2009 Copyright © 2009 Dowjones