Yahoo Finance Is Intuitive Surgical, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:ISRG) Latest Stock Performance A Reflection Of Its Financial Health?
Intuitive Surgical's (NASDAQ:ISRG) stock is up by a considerable 35% over the past three months. Since the market usually pay for a company’s long-term fundamentals, we decided to study the company’s key performance indicators to see if they could be influencing the market. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Intuitive Surgical's ROE today.
Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. In simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity.
See our latest analysis for Intuitive Surgical
How To Calculate Return On Equity?
Return on equity can be calculated by using the formula:
Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity
So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Intuitive Surgical is:
12% = US$1.3b ÷ US$11b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2023).
The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. Another way to think of that is that for every $1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn $0.12 in profit.
Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?
We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. Based on how much of its profits the company chooses to reinvest or "retain", we are then able to evaluate a company's future ability to generate profits. Assuming everything else remains unchanged, the higher the ROE and profit retention, the higher the growth rate of a company compared to companies that don't necessarily bear these characteristics.
Intuitive Surgical's Earnings Growth And 12% ROE
At first glance, Intuitive Surgical seems to have a decent ROE. Especially when compared to the industry average of 9.4% the company's ROE looks pretty impressive. This probably laid the ground for Intuitive Surgical's moderate 9.8% net income growth seen over the past five years.
As a next step, we compared Intuitive Surgical's net income growth with the industry and found that the company has a similar growth figure when compared with the industry average growth rate of 9.9% in the same period.
The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. If you're wondering about Intuitive Surgical's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.
Is Intuitive Surgical Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?
Intuitive Surgical doesn't pay any dividend currently which essentially means that it has been reinvesting all of its profits into the business. This definitely contributes to the decent earnings growth number that we discussed above.
Summary
In total, we are pretty happy with Intuitive Surgical's performance. In particular, it's great to see that the company is investing heavily into its business and along with a high rate of return, that has resulted in a sizeable growth in its earnings. With that said, the latest industry analyst forecasts reveal that the company's earnings are expected to accelerate. Are these analysts expectations based on the broad expectations for the industry, or on the company's fundamentals? Click here to be taken to our analyst's forecasts page for the company.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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