Shares of Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG) slumped 7.4% in January, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence . Even with the indices soaring, some stocks have taken a turn for the worse to start 2023. And Intuitive Surgical is one of them. The robotic surgery provider posted weak fourth-quarter earnings on Jan. 24, leading investors to sell some shares.
Worldwide procedures for Intuitive Surgical's Da Vinci surgery system were up 18% year over year in the period, leading to Q4 revenue growing 7% year over year to $1.66 billion. While this might seem like solid growth, it was below the expectations investors had going into the report.
Management blamed a resurgent COVID-19 in China as a headwind for procedure volumes in the region, which caused overall procedures to come in below expectations. When countries are seeing patients flood hospitals due to COVID-19 outbreaks, less important surgeries performed by Da Vinci systems are typically postponed.
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Why Intuitive Surgical Stock Slumped in January