The stock for medical tech giant Intuitive Surgical has a habit of leaping higher as hospitals continue to adopt its advanced robotic surgery gear. On Tuesday, the Relative Strength (RS) Rating for Intuitive Surgical stock climbed to 83, up from 80 the day before. It may be setting up for another run higher when the market comes out of its current funk.
Intuitive Surgical stock dipped to an intraday low 180.07 in mid-October last year as the bear market was ending. It shot up to 358.07 on July 19, nearly doubling, then consolidated amid the recent market pullback.
Intuitive Surgical pioneered robotic surgery. It's da Vinci Surgical System lets a surgeon do precise surgery on a patient many miles away, across the country if need be. A da Vinci system costs about $1.5 million and the company makes additional revenue selling disposable surgery products to hospitals.
Intuitive Surgical Stock Among Top 17%
Its upgraded 83 RS Rating shows that Intuitive Surgical stock is in the top 17% of all stocks for price performance over the past year. Market research shows that top-performing stocks typically have an RS Rating over 80 in the early stages of their moves.
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Intuitive Surgical stock traded above 290 Tuesday afternoon. It's below its 50-day line and recently tested its 200-day but stayed above that benchmark. It's working on a consolidation pattern with the 358.07 buy point. See if Intuitive Surgical stock can break out in heavy trading.
Sales, Profit Growth Accelerated Last 2 Quarters
Taking a look at revenue and profit performance, Intuitive Surgical has posted rising EPS growth over the last two quarters. Sales growth has also increased over the same time frame.
Last quarter, the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based medtech company recorded a 25% rise in earnings to $1.42 per share. Revenue grew 15% to $1.76 billion. The company expects to report its next quarterly numbers after the market closes on Oct. 19.
Intuitive Surgical stock earns the No. 4 rank among its peers in the Medical-Systems/Equipment industry group. Haemonetics and Steris are also among the group's highest-rated stocks.
When looking for the best stocks to buy and watch, one factor to watch closely is relative price strength.
IBD's unique RS Rating tracks technical performance by using a 1 (worst) to 99 (best) score that identifies how a stock's price performance over the last 52 weeks matches up against that of all other stocks.
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