ISRG vs ABT: Intuitive Surgical vs Abbott Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Intuitive Surgical is a pure-play surgical robotics company with dominant market share and high-margin recurring revenue from instruments and services. Abbott is a diversified medtech conglomerate led by the FreeStyle Libre CGM franchise. ISRG has higher growth and margins; ABT has more diversification and dividend income.
Use this ISRG vs ABT comparison to evaluate two different medtech investment approaches. Intuitive Surgical offers concentrated surgical robotics growth with AI expansion potential; Abbott offers diversified medtech exposure with CGM leadership and Dividend Aristocrat stability.
ISRG holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. ABT leads on both 1-year return (-12.02%) and forward P/E quality (16.81x vs 30.87x for ISRG), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. ISRG leads on both revenue growth (18.50%) and operating margin (33.60%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for ISRG (+28.29%) than for ABT (+17.96%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
- Want pure-play exposure to the surgical robotics megatrend with dominant market share
- Value the razor-and-blade recurring revenue model (instruments and services per procedure)
- Believe AI-assisted surgery and da Vinci 5 represent the next growth frontier
- Are comfortable with a premium valuation for a high-growth, high-margin medtech compounder
- Prefer diversified medtech exposure across devices, diagnostics, nutrition, and pharma
- Value the FreeStyle Libre CGM franchise as a secular growth driver in diabetes management
- Want Dividend Aristocrat income with 50+ years of consecutive dividend increases
- Prefer a lower-valuation, lower-risk medtech holding with multiple growth vectors
| Metric | ISRG | ABT |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 51.7 | 51.6 |
| AI ranki | #436 | #451 |
| Latest closei | $452.80 | $109.93 |
| 1M returni | +9.23% | +11.34% |
| 3M returni | +19.53% | +1.97% |
| 6M returni | +0.61% | +30.37% |
| 1Y returni | -17.34% | -12.02% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | ISRG | ABT |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $8.09K (-19.1%) started 2025-11-07 | $8.7K (-13.0%) started 2025-11-07 |
| 5Y ago | $12.39K (+23.9%) started 2021-11-08 | $9.92K (-0.8%) started 2021-11-08 |
| 10Y ago | $60.07K (+500.7%) started 2016-11-07 | $38.02K (+280.2%) started 2016-11-07 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | ISRG | ABT |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $133.49B | $176.41B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 42.01 | 32.99 |
| Forward P/Ei | 30.87 | 16.81 |
| Price/Salesi | 22.91 | 5.49 |
| EV/Revenuei | 11.47 | 4.38 |
| Analyst targeti | $478.01 | $120.26 |
| Target upsidei | +28.29% | +17.96% |
| Metric | ISRG | ABT |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 18.50% | 13.00% |
| Earnings growthi | 26.50% | -47.50% |
| EPS growthi | +26.50% | -47.50% |
| FCF margini | +23.70% | +15.48% |
| Operating margini | 33.60% | 14.71% |
| Profit margini | 28.45% | 11.65% |
| ROIC proxyi | 17.42% | 10.58% |
| Return on equityi | 17.42% | 10.58% |
| Dividend yieldi | N/A | 2.47% |
| Payout ratioi | 0.00% | 92.54% |
| Dividend growth streaki | N/A | No increase yet |
| Betai | 1.46 | 0.59 |
| Debt/equityi | 0.95 | 63.21 |
| Current ratioi | 4.96 | 1.38 |
| Quick ratioi | 3.64 | 0.80 |
Over the past year, ISRG and ABT have moved weakly in the same direction (correlation of 0.34), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | ISRG | ABT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | -19.14% | -13.00% |
| CAGRi | -19.19% | -13.03% | |
| Volatilityi | 34.09% | 28.01% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.60 | -0.53 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.79 | -0.75 | |
| Max drawdowni | 44.00% | 36.78% | |
| Current drawdowni | 23.62% | 15.82% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 22.32% | 18.57% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 25.40% | 21.02% | |
| Max daily dropi | 14.15% | 10.04% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 17.48% | 13.11% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +23.91% | -7.38% |
| CAGRi | +4.39% | -1.52% | |
| Volatilityi | 34.67% | 23.18% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.17 | -0.14 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.24 | -0.20 | |
| Max drawdowni | 49.90% | 40.85% | |
| Current drawdowni | 25.83% | 21.24% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 18.81% | 18.17% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 23.22% | 20.27% | |
| Max daily dropi | 14.34% | 10.04% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 22.30% | 13.11% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +500.68% | +221.90% |
| CAGRi | +19.64% | +12.40% | |
| Volatilityi | 33.21% | 24.05% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.57 | 0.42 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.83 | 0.60 | |
| Max drawdowni | 49.90% | 40.85% | |
| Current drawdowni | 25.83% | 21.24% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 12.26% | 11.00% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 17.39% | 14.80% | |
| Max daily dropi | 14.34% | 10.04% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 22.30% | 16.72% |
| Category | ISRG | ABT |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Intuitive Surgical, Inc. | Abbott Laboratories |
| Sector | Healthcare | Healthcare |
| Industry | Medical Instruments & Supplies | Medical Devices |
| Core business | Maker of the da Vinci and Ion robotic surgical systems. Revenue from system placements, instruments/accessories (per-procedure), and services. Expanding into AI-assisted surgery and procedure analytics. | Diversified medical devices, diagnostics, nutritional products, and pharmaceuticals company. Key products include FreeStyle Libre CGM, cardiac rhythm management, structural heart, and rapid diagnostics. |
| Investor focus | Procedure growth, new system placements (da Vinci 5), instruments/accessories recurring revenue, international expansion, and AI-assisted surgical capabilities. | FreeStyle Libre CGM growth, medical device innovation pipeline, diagnostics base business recovery post-COVID, and emerging market expansion. |
- Dominant installed base of 9,000+ da Vinci robotic systems creates massive recurring instrument and service revenue per procedure
- da Vinci 5 next-generation system drives upgrade cycle with enhanced vision, force feedback, and AI integration
- High switching costs — surgeons train extensively on da Vinci and hospitals invest millions in infrastructure around the platform
- FreeStyle Libre is the world's leading continuous glucose monitor (CGM) with massive growth as adoption expands from Type 1 to Type 2 diabetes and wellness markets
- Diversified across four segments (devices, diagnostics, nutrition, pharma) provides stability through product cycles
- Consistent dividend growth — Abbott is a Dividend Aristocrat with 50+ years of consecutive dividend increases
- Premium valuation requires sustained double-digit procedure growth and successful da Vinci 5 ramp
- Competition from Medtronic (Hugo), J&J (Ottava), and others entering the surgical robotics market
- Hospital capital equipment budgets can be cyclical and subject to economic and reimbursement pressures
- GLP-1 weight loss drugs could reduce the long-term prevalence of Type 2 diabetes, potentially limiting CGM market growth
- Diagnostics revenue has been declining post-COVID as rapid testing demand normalizes
- Nutritional products segment faces competitive and recall-related headwinds
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