Intuitive Surgical draws bullish views at William Blair despite YTD decline
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William Blair launched its coverage on Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG), the maker of da Vinci Surgical Systems, with an Outperform rating on Thursday, while its shares have underperformed the broader market this year with a ~8% decline. 

The analyst Brandon Vazquez notes that historically, Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) has traded at a ~2.5x premium to the S&P 500, and the stock is currently trading in line with that average.
The analyst also observes that ISRG is trading at a premium of 46.5x to the firmâs 2023 earnings per share estimates and argues, âWe believe the companyâs competitive moat, market opportunity, and strong pipeline deserve this premium valuation.â
Vazquez points out that ISRG and its rival Medtronic (MDT) have, respectively, estimated ~20M and up to 50M annual global soft-tissue procedures, and da Vinci has only penetrated less than 10% of the market. 
Despite well-established benefits in minimally invasive surgery (MIS), most surgeries remain open given the need for better tools, Vazquez added, noting âwe think da Vinci is and will remain a critical part in delivering MIS benefits to more patientsâ .
According to Seeking Alpha analysts Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) is a Hold. Author Nelson Alves argued in February that the companyâs âcurrent valuation is not exciting.â