Intuitive Records $450 Million Antitrust Settlement Charge

The Tip Desk · October 22, 2026 · 3 min read

Third-quarter revenue reached $3.05 billion, up 22%, as worldwide da Vinci and Ion procedures grew about 15%.

Intuitive Surgical (ISRG), the Sunnyvale, California, pioneer of robotic-assisted surgery, recorded a $450 million pre-tax charge in the third quarter of 2026 to settle previously disclosed antitrust class action litigation, pulling GAAP net income to $523 million, or $1.49 a share, from $704 million, or $1.95 a share, a year earlier.

The charge, booked in selling, general, and administrative expenses, was $347 million, or $0.99 a share, after tax. In October 2026, after mediation in the “In re: da Vinci Surgical Robot Antitrust Litigation” class action, the company said it reached a written agreement, without any admission of liability or wrongdoing, to pay the one-time amount and accept mutually agreed injunctive relief. The settlement remains subject to preliminary and final court approval.

Revenue was $3.05 billion, up 22% from $2.51 billion in the third quarter of 2025. The company said the increase was driven by growth in procedure volume, higher operating lease revenue, and a larger installed base. Worldwide da Vinci and Ion procedures grew approximately 15% versus the third quarter of 2025, with da Vinci procedures up about 14% and Ion procedures up about 31%. Chief executive Dave Rosa said customers used the systems to perform, on average, more than 10,000 procedures a day throughout the period.

Instruments and accessories revenue rose 18% to $1.80 billion. Systems revenue was $769 million. The company placed 546 da Vinci surgical systems, including 315 da Vinci 5 systems, compared with 427 systems, including 240 da Vinci 5 systems, a year earlier. Of the 2026 placements, 291 were under operating lease arrangements, including 160 under usage-based leases. Ion placements were 56.

The da Vinci installed base reached 12,094 systems as of September 30, 2026, up 12% from 10,763 a year earlier. The Ion installed base was 1,152 systems.

GAAP income from operations fell to $593 million from $760 million a year earlier. Non-GAAP income from operations was $1.27 billion. Non-GAAP net income attributable to Intuitive was $1.05 billion, or $3.00 a share, compared with $867 million, or $2.40 a share, in the third quarter of 2025. Both GAAP and non-GAAP results included a $22 million after-tax benefit, or $0.06 a share, from refunds of tariffs paid in prior periods under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

The company repurchased 7.8 million shares for $2.94 billion in the quarter. Cash, cash equivalents, and investments ended at $6.80 billion, down $1.83 billion during the period, which the company said was primarily driven by cash used for share repurchases and purchases of property, plant, and equipment, partially offset by cash generated from operations.

For the full year 2026, Intuitive expects worldwide da Vinci procedure growth of approximately 14% to 15%, and said it expects to be closer to the midpoint of that range. It expects non-GAAP gross profit margin of 68.7% to 69.3% of revenue, a range that includes an estimated tariff impact of 0.9% of revenue excluding recognized tariff refunds, and non-GAAP operating expense growth of 11% to 13%. The company said the margin range assumes tariffs currently in effect remain in place through year-end and that additional tariffs beyond current expectations could have a material effect on 2026 results, including the expected non-GAAP gross profit margin.