Why Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (ISRG) is Among the Best Stocks That Will Always Grow

We recently published a list of 10 Best Stocks That Will Always Grow. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) stands against other best stocks that will always grow.

The Looming Risk of a Recession in the US

Threats of an impending recession are looming over the stock market due to Trump’s tariffs and macroeconomic uncertainty. According to CNBC’s quarterly CFO Council Survey for Q1 2025, a majority of chief financial officers are of the opinion that the economy is likely to fall into a recession in H2 2025. The CFOs said that they were generally “pessimistic” about the overall state of the American economy, and expressed uncertainty about the stock market.

The survey also showed that 95% of the CFOs claimed that their ability to make business decisions is being affected by policy, and a significant number said that although the Trump administration is “delivering on promises,” the government’s dealing with such matters is proving disruptive, extreme, and too chaotic. This is causing considerable difficulty to businesses looking to effectively navigate the present challenges. Therefore, around 60% of the CFOs opined that they expect a recession to materialize in H2 2025; another 15% said that it may appear in 2026.

CNBC reported on April 16 that Fed Chair Jerome Powell announced the day before that the central bank may be caught at the crossroads of supporting economic growth and controlling inflation. He said that although he anticipates lower growth and increased inflation, it is uncertain where the Fed will need to focus its attention. In prepared remarks before the Economic Club of Chicago, he said:

“We may find ourselves in the challenging scenario in which our dual-mandate goals are in tension. If that were to occur, we would consider how far the economy is from each goal, and the potentially different time horizons over which those respective gaps would be anticipated to close.”

Powell also did not give any indication of where interest rates could be headed, but remarked that:

“For the time being, we are well positioned to wait for greater clarity before considering any adjustments to our policy stance.”

READ ALSO: 15 Best Blue Chip Stocks to Buy According to Billionaires and 11 Best Retail Stocks to Buy Right Now.

Are the Stagflation Risks Real?

On April 17, Joyce Chang, JPMorgan chair of global research, appeared on CNBC’s ‘Closing Bell Overtime’ to talk about Powell’s latest comments and the looming risk of recession. She was of the opinion that the risk of the recession is hovering over the stock market even with Trump’s 90-day tariff delays at around 60%.

Chang said that PCE inflation is coming towards 4% over the next year, with growth flat at the end of the year. While a recession is not imminent, as some of the hard data is still looking relatively healthy, with higher inflation, flat growth, and still very high fiscal deficits, one has to highlight that the stagflation risks are very real. The uncertainty would continue and is highly unlikely to be over after 90 days.

Since current and future market conditions reflect volatility and uncertainty, let’s examine the 10 best stocks that might always grow, even in an economic downturn.

Our Methodology

We sifted through stock screeners, financial media reports, and ETFs to compile a list of 20 recession-proof stocks with a 10-year revenue growth rate of 8%-15% and chose the top 10 most popular among hedge funds as of Q4 2024. The list is ordered in ascending order of hedge fund sentiment. We sourced the hedge fund sentiment data from Insider Monkey’s database.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 95

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) has an elaborate ecosystem of services and products that provides robotic-assisted surgical solutions and invasive care, ranking it fifth on our list of the stocks that will always grow. Its products include the Ion Endoluminal and the Da Vinci Surgical systems.

In a report released on April 15, Matt Miksic from Barclays maintained a Buy rating on Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) and set a price target of $684.00. In another report released on April 14, BTIG analyst Ryan Zimmerman also maintained a Buy rating on the company with a $560.00 price target of $560.00. Patrick Wood from Morgan Stanley also expressed bullish sentiments for the company, opining that growth in its general surgery segment is more diversified than expected, which presents an attractive entry point for investors in conjunction with the recent stock pullback and supports the buy rating.

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) also recently announced the FDA approval of its fully wristed SP SureForm 45 stapler for use with its da Vinci SP surgical system. Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) thus holds a significant position in the surgical robotics market due to its continuous innovations. According to Grand View Research, the market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 9.5% until 2030. By then, the global market is anticipated to be worth around $7.4 billion, up from $4.3 billion last year, which is expected to fare well for the company.

Overall, ISRG ranks 5th on our list of the best stocks that will always grow. While we acknowledge the potential for ISRG as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than ISRG but trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.