Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG) has fallen roughly 35% from its all-time high, reached in early 2025, raising questions about whether now is the time to buy.
The company is best known as the maker of the da Vinci surgical robot system, a leader in the rapidly expanding field of surgical robotics.
Da Vinci technology enables less invasive procedures and has been approved for a growing number of surgical applications, widening the company’s addressable market considerably.
At the end of the first quarter of 2026, Intuitive Surgical had 11,395 da Vinci systems installed globally, a 12% increase compared to the same period a year earlier.
The number of surgeries performed using those systems jumped 17% year over year, outpacing the growth in installed units and underlining the platform’s increasing utilization.
Crucially, robot sales account for only about 25% of total revenue, with the remaining majority generated through services, instruments, and accessories tied to existing systems.
Those recurring parts and services revenues are annuity-like in nature, giving the business a resilient earnings foundation even if new system sales were to decelerate.
The stock’s sharp decline has pulled its price-to-earnings ratio down to 47x, still well above the S&P 500 average of 27.5x but meaningfully below Intuitive Surgical’s own five-year average P/E of 68x.
At the early 2025 peak, the P/E ratio stood at a steep 95x, a valuation level that left the stock vulnerable to any sign of slowing momentum.
The company has guided for procedure growth of 13% to 15% in 2026, down from 18% in 2025, though first quarter results already came in above that projected range, suggesting guidance may be conservative.
Intuitive Surgical faces growing competition in the surgical robotics space, including from medical device giant Medtronic, which could put some pressure on long-term growth rates.
Despite that competitive reality, the large installed base of da Vinci systems guarantees a substantial and ongoing stream of parts and services revenue for years to come.
Importantly, this is not the first time ISRG has experienced a drawdown of this magnitude, having gone through similar sell-offs at least eight times since its initial public offering.
On each of those prior occasions, the stock eventually recovered and went on to reach new all-time highs, a pattern that gives some historical basis for optimism.
Income investors and value-focused buyers are unlikely to find ISRG appealing, given it pays no dividend and still carries a premium valuation even after the selloff.
For growth-oriented investors with a higher risk tolerance and a long-term time horizon, however, the current pullback in ISRG may represent a meaningful entry point worth considering.
