Intuitive Surgical Shares Pounded on Dissapointing Report, Concerning Comments in Conference Call

Intuitive Surgical

shares are taking another haircut this morning after the company came out with a disappointing earnings report following Tuesday's close. The company reported a revenue figure of $464.70 million, missing street expectations of $507.04 million, while its EPS figure did not appear to be comparable. Comments from the conference call were particularly startling to the street, with the company CEO noting that gross margins of its new products may not be as high as the old ones, while it cut fiscal year procedure growth from a range of 9-12% down to 2-8%. The CEO also noted that its "difficult to forecast sales amid business pressures", further worrying traders about the state of the company. Reiterating its stance Wednesday morning, Sterne Agee maintained its Underperform rating, while lowering its price target on the company to $360. Shares were down 8.37 percent to $387.00 Wednesday morning, and have fallen nearly 29 percent since the beginning of April.