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Wall Street got their quarter wrong again. It hit $286, a new high, last Thursday, but tumbled 2.19% today. Revenues were in-line at 6% in their total spending in their cards, and expenses were 9% YOY, but below estimates, and they beat EPS, but they slightly trimmed their full-year revenue growth forecast, but Millennials/GenZ spending is up 12% YOY, the Boomers are flat while GenX is 4%. Delinquencies look good, not that bad. Wall Street didn't like their gradual slowdown in revenue growth.
EPS of $1.60 missed estimates of $1.78; revenue of $2.185B missed estimates of $2.27B. EBITDA of $357.2M missed estimates of $371.2M. EPS did rise from $1.57 last year. Revenue rose 14% with acquisitions helping. Truckload revenue rose 80%, logistics rose 2.5%. Operating income rose 1.3%. The dividend was raised by 13%. The company noted "Business conditions for US LTL are challenging". Still free cash flow was $270M, up 37% from the prior year. We expect investors will be a bit disappointed, with the dividend hike offsetting a bit. We would be OK buying some if it dips a few dollars, but the after market trading right now is quite muted, at least so far (down 1.3%).
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At only $10M market cap, simply the cost of being public is a big drag to the company. It has some cash, but cash flow is weak, and it would take a very strong turnaround to get investors interested in such a small company again. We would prefer to take our lumps and move on.
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EPS of $1.84 beat estimates of $1.64; revenue of $2.04B beat estimates of $2.00B. Intuitive Surgical's 3Q earnings show strong momentum in the adoption of its latest surgical robotic technology and margin expansion, with further potential upside as utilization expands. The quarter's 18% procedure growth beat estimates for 17.1%, with gains in the installed base and system utilization easily compensating for bariatric procedure declines. The 379 da Vinci placements in 3Q, including 110 of the new Da Vinci 5 robots, surpassed estimates. This trend makes Intuitive's procedural volume growth guidance of 16-17% look conservative as it only raised the low end of the range. Operating margin of 37% exceeded analyst estimates of 34.8%, with management citing operating leverage as it updated its 2024 operating expense growth outlook to 10-12% year-over-year, from 10-13% previously. Things continue to look very good here.
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Company Highlight: Intuitive Surgical (ISRG)
Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) is an industry leader in the robotic-assisted surgery industry, well-regarded for its da Vinci surgical system. Its technology allows surgeons to perform complex procedures with enhanced precision, control, and visualization, which greatly helps with the recovery time for patients. Its da Vinci system is the most widely used robotic-assisted surgical platform in the world. Its sales are from a mix of da Vinci systems, ongoing sales of instruments and parts, and maintenance fees of the systems.
ISRG has a strong track record of performance, with a 10-year total return CAGR of 25.0%. In terms of its financials, it is a large-cap healthcare name ($170.0 billion market cap), and it has grown its sales and earnings at a five-year CAGR of 13.4% and 11.6%, respectively. Forward analyst estimates call for a 13.7% next year sales growth rate and 16.6% earnings growth rate. Analyst estimates have been rising over the past few months, as optimism around its industry-leading healthcare robotics position continues, and it makes progress on the AI front.
While its share price has risen dramatically since the peak of 20221, its valuation has stayed roughly the same or declined slightly. This suggests its fundamentals are improving and that we could see its valuation compress more in the future if earnings continue to grow and its share price grows at a slightly lower rate. It is not cheap at a 68X forward earnings multiple, but we feel this is the price for a high-growth, industry-leading name in the robotics-assisted surgery industry.
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The chart shows higher highs and higher lows. The Chaikin Moneyflow since July is positive with each of the 4 pullbacks seeing strong buying. LAnf targets $220 in 2025.