Despite significant disruption from the pandemic and macroeconomic headwinds, Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG) has performed well over the past five years both as a company and as a stock. The company’s shares have outpaced broader equities over this period.

However, a lot is changing within Intuitive Surgical’s competitive landscape. Can the medical device leader still perform well over the next five years? Let’s find out how things might unfold for the company through 2031.

Surgeons in an operating room.
Image source: Getty Images.

Intuitive Surgical is best known for its da Vinci systems, robotic-assisted surgery (RAS) devices that help physicians perform minimally invasive surgical procedures. In 2024, the company earned clearance for the fifth generation of this famous system. The rollout of the da Vinci 5 is still ongoing, but over the next five years, we could see it gain significantly more traction. Intuitive Surgical will launch software updates and other upgrades for the da Vinci 5 based on real-world data and physician feedback. The device should also earn additional indications for its use over the years.

This matters for Intuitive Surgical’s prospects, as it will help boost its installed base and procedure volume, which are important drivers of revenue growth. Intuitive Surgical makes the majority of its revenue from instruments and accessories needed for the da Vinci systems, as well as servicing the devices and training. The more of its devices are out in hospitals and medical offices, the more surgeries are performed with it, and the more instruments and accessories it sells, and the more servicing and training are needed. Intuitive Surgical’s work with the da Vinci 5 should be an important thing to watch over the next five years, though its older devices will still play a role.

Intuitive Surgical has had little competition over the past couple of decades. That is now changing. Last year, Medtronic received U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance for its Hugo RAS system for urologic procedures, an indication for which the da Vinci system is also approved. Medtronic won’t stop there. It is already running additional clinical trials, including in hernia repair, to expand the device’s approved indications.



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