By Will Feuer


Intuitive Surgical Inc. said preliminary fourth-quarter sales came in below Wall Street expectations as a resurgence of Covid-19 in China weighed on procedure volumes.

The company, which makes the robotic-assisted da Vinci surgical system, said it expects to report fourth-quarter revenue of $1.66 billion, below the $1.69 billion that analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting from the company. Still, the figure marked a 7% increase from a year earlier.

In 2022, the company said, global da Vinci procedures grew about 18% from the prior year. The company expects worldwide da Vinci procedures to grow by 12% to 16% in 2023.

Throughout 2022, the spread of Covid-19 in various regions weighed on the company's procedure volumes. In the first half of the year, the spread of Covid-19 in the U.S. and Europe affected da Vinci procedure volumes. Then in the second half of the year, Covid-19 affected volumes in China.

Shares fell 4% to $260.02 in premarket trading.

Write to Will Feuer at Will.Feuer@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-11-23 0946ET