Intuitive Surgical or Abbott: Which MedTech Stock Is a Better Bet Now?

Intuitive Surgical ISRG and Abbott Laboratories ABT closed 2025 with solid fourth-quarter performances, though their growth trajectories are expected to diverge going forward.

Intuitive Surgical remains primarily focused on procedure-driven expansion, supported by its da Vinci installed base and next-generation innovation. In contrast, Abbott is positioned to benefit from diversified device momentum, leadership in diabetes care and a deep pipeline spanning cardiovascular and diagnostics. While both management teams have guided for durable growth into 2026, the underlying operational drivers differ meaningfully.

Let us take a closer look at the companies’ competitive dynamics to determine which is better positioned within the industry to deserve a place in your investment portfolio.

The Case for ISRG

For Intuitive Surgical, procedure growth remains the key growth factor. In 2025, da Vinci procedures rose approximately 18% to more than 3.1 million globally, with 15% growth in U.S. market and international growth of 23%. Total revenues increased 21%, while recurring revenues grew 20% and represented 81% of sales in the fourth quarter.

The recurring revenue stream primarily comprises instruments, accessories and services, which scaled in line with procedure growth, supported by the company’s expanding installed base of robotic systems. The da Vinci installed base expanded 12% in 2025 to more than 11,100 systems. System utilization also increased during the year, especially with growing adoption of the latest robotic system, da Vinci 5, where management cited efficiency advantages and higher case throughput.

The company’s Capital placement remains strong, with 1,721 da Vinci systems placed in 2025, including 870 da Vinci 5 systems. Management highlighted strong upgrade demand and increasing international rollout.

Procedure growth guidance of 13-15% reflects sustained momentum, while factoring in macroeconomic risks, such as capital constraints in parts of Europe and intensifying competition in China. Despite the unfavorable impact of tariffs, full-year pro forma operating margin expanded 70 basis points to 37%, highlighting operating leverage even amid continued investment and platform mix shifts.

Intuitive Surgical’s emphasis on innovation remains a key pillar supporting its multi-year growth trajectory. The company is accelerating the rollout of da Vinci 5, expanding its Force Feedback instruments portfolio, pursuing cardiac clearances and advancing imaging initiatives, including AI-enabled enhancements and planned hyperspectral imaging capabilities targeted for 2026.

Beyond the da Vinci franchise, Ion procedure volumes grew 51% in 2025, with the installed base nearing 1,000 systems, signaling increasing platform optionality beyond core soft-tissue robotics. Management has consistently emphasized that robotic surgery adoption remains in relatively early stages, reinforcing the view of a long runway for penetration-driven expansion.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ISRG’s 2026 earnings per share has improved 48 cents in the past 90 days.

The Case for ABT

Abbott Laboratories delivered broad-based device growth within its diversified operating model. Medical Devices sales increased 10.5% in the fourth quarter, led by 12% growth in Diabetes Care CGM revenues. Management highlighted that CGM growth has exceeded $1 billion for the third consecutive year and expects continued low-teens expansion in 2026.

Cardiovascular franchises, including Structural Heart and Electrophysiology, posted double-digit gains, supported by products such as Volt PFA and Navitor. Within Diagnostics, Core Laboratory revenues grew 3.5% in the fourth quarter, excluding China, while COVID testing headwinds continued to moderate.

Nutrition revenues declined in the quarter due to pricing dynamics and volume pressure, with management guiding for near-term softness before an anticipated recovery in the second half of 2026. Abbott delivered 12% adjusted EPS growth in the fourth quarter and projected 6.5-7.5% organic sales growth alongside approximately 10% EPS growth at the midpoint for 2026, supported by annual operating margin expansion of 50-70 basis points.

Abbott benefits from segment diversification across devices, diagnostics, nutrition and emerging market pharmaceuticals, which are likely to sustain high single-digit growth going forward.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ABT’s 2026 earnings per share has improved 1 cent in the past 90 days.

Price Performance & Valuation of ISRG & ABT

Over the past year, Intuitive Surgical has lost 9.9% compared with Abbott’s decline of 15.2%. The broader Medical sector and the S&P 500 Index have gained 1.4% and 21.4%, respectively, in the same period.

Abbott looks more attractive than Intuitive Surgical from a valuation standpoint. Going by the price/earnings ratio, Abbott’s shares currently trade at 19.91 forward earnings, lower than 49.41 for Intuitive Surgical.

ISRG’s Strong Growth Makes It a Better Bet

Abbott Laboratories offers balanced, diversified expansion with strong CGM and cardiovascular execution amid near-term Nutrition headwinds. Intuitive Surgical is compounding growth through accelerating procedure volumes, continued installed-base expansion and next-generation platform innovation, all of which support a structurally higher recurring revenue growth rate.

While Abbott Laboratories offers defensive stability through its diversified model, Intuitive Surgical’s combination of sustained double-digit procedure growth, a high recurring revenue mix and ongoing ecosystem innovation positions it as the more compelling long-term compounding opportunity. While Intuitive Surgical currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Abbott Laboratories carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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