Highly ranked robotic surgery pioneer Intuitive Surgical had a nice run from March until July this year. It rose about 60% during that time, then it consolidated. It's showing renewed signs of growth and on Monday the Relative Strength (RS) Rating for Intuitive Surgical stock moved up into a higher percentile, as it got a lift from 62 to 71.
Additionally, the growth rate for both sales and earnings for the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company has risen for the past two quarters.
The upgraded 71 RS Rating shows that Intuitive Surgical stock has bettered 70% of all stocks for price performance over the past 12 months. Even better, its EPS Rating and Composite Rating are both in the 80s.
Market research shows that stocks that go on to make the biggest gains often have an 80 or higher RS Rating as they begin their largest price moves. See if Intuitive Surgical stock can continue rising and hit that benchmark.
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Regarding top and bottom line numbers, Intuitive Surgical has posted rising EPS growth over the last two quarters. It reported a 5% drop in EPS for the December-ended quarter then a 9% rise in March and a 25% jump in EPS last quarter to $1.42.
Revenue growth pace has also quickened during that period, from 7% in December to 14%, then 15% last quarter to $1.76 billion. The company says on its website it plans to hold a news conference Thursday afternoon to report its fiscal third quarter earnings.
Among its other key ratings, Intuitive Surgical stock has an 82 Composite Rating, out of 99. And it carries an 88 EPS Rating. One yellow flag is its D+ Accumulation/Distribution Rating, showing that ETFs and other big funds are selling more shares than buying. Look for that to improve to a C or better.
Intuitive Surgical stock edged up 0.37% Monday to 274.16, its second day in a row of rising share price. The gains come after dropped at the end of last week in sync with market weakness. While it's not near an ideal buy point right now, see if it manages to form and break out of a proper chart pattern such as a cup with handle or double bottom.
Intuitive Surgical stock holds the No. 3 rank among its peers in the 75-stock Medical-Systems/Equipment industry group. Automated blood collection device maker Haemonetics is also in the top five of the group. So is airway clearance device maker Electromed.
When looking for the best stocks to buy and watch, one factor to watch closely is relative price strength.
This exclusive rating from Investor's Business Daily identifies price action with a 1 (worst) to 99 (best) score. The score shows how a stock's price movement over the last 52 weeks stacks up against all the other stocks in our database.
