Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) Stock Has Plunged 33% in 2026. Here's Why One Fund Manager Remains Bullish -- and Why I Do, Too.

If you're not acquainted with Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG), cognize this: It's a monolithic robotic surgical systems specialist, with a caller marketplace worth topping $135 billion. That marketplace worth was rather a spot higher not truthful agelong ago, though -- due to the fact that portion the banal has averaged yearly gains of 17% implicit the past decade, it's down 33% truthful acold successful 2026.

Two cardinal concerns astir the institution are contention from China and also, potentially, from OpenAI and artificial quality (AI). That mightiness person caused immoderate to merchantability the banal oregon simply to steer clear. But the new, little terms should inactive entice semipermanent believers: Intuitive Surgical's guardant price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was precocious 35, good beneath its five-year mean of astir 54.

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The large question is wherever Intuitive Surgical goes from here; for investors, the aboriginal ever matters overmuch much than the past. I'd reason that Intuitive isn't going away, due to the fact that it already has an installed basal of much than 12,000 robotic country systems successful much than 70 countries astir the world.

Better still, portion hospitals aren't buying its pricey robotic country systems each day, they are frequently spending wealth connected instruments, accessories, and servicing the systems they have. That's recurring revenue, which precocious made up astir 75% of full revenue.

On apical of that, the institution isn't lasting still. It keeps launching newer, improved systems, and its offerings are overmuch much polished and proven than those of would-be competitors. For example, it's expanding into bronchoscopy, and is seeing a batch of usage of its machines for exigency surgeries.

I'm not the lone bullish capitalist (and shareholder) around. The Baron Health Care Fund precocious wrote:

Medical instrumentality stocks ... broadly underperformed the marketplace amid concerns that wellness attraction utilization trends could decelerate pursuing the expiration of Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies. Concerns were further compounded by the imaginable interaction of Medicaid enactment requirements expected to instrumentality effect successful 2027. Despite these headwinds, we judge Intuitive [Surgical] tin proceed to turn gross astatine a mid-teens complaint for galore years and [we] stay affirmative connected the company's semipermanent maturation outlook.

Wall Street remains mostly affirmative connected the stock, with astir analysts standing it a buy. Take a person look astatine this dynamic institution and spot what you think. For long-term, risk-tolerant investors, this could beryllium a large buying opportunity.