Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) Sinks on Negative Analyst Comments

November 17, 2008 11:41 AM EST

Traders are selling shares of Intuitive Surgical (Nasdaq: ISRG) this morning on several negative analyst comments. The stock is currently down 12.5%, or $18.50, to $129.90. Notably, Intuitive Surgical's stock price hit a new 52-week low this morning when it went as low as $129.55.

First, analysts at Wachovia issued a research note earlier saying that capital spending within the hospital industry has further deteriorated. The firm cites recent checks indicating that hospitals are having trouble raising capital, in turn, "forcing them to ration capital expenditures to increase free cash flow." Wachovia specifically mentioned Intuitive, Kinetic Concepts (NYSE: KCI), and Stryker (NYSE: SYK), saying, "while we still believe our companies exposed to these trends appear to be safer than most, our conviction level has decreased."

Secondly, William Blair downgraded shares of Intuitive Surgical from Outperform to Market Perform.

Intuitive Surgical, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of da Vinci surgical systems for use in urologic, cardiothoracic, gynecologic, and general surgeries. Its surgical systems consist of a surgeon's console, a patient-side cart, a vision system, and wristed instruments.

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• William Blair
• Wachovia

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