Intuitive Surgical Results Beat on Growing Demand for Surgical Robots

Representation photo: Employees work at the office of humanoid robots developer Ex-Robots in Dalian, Liaoning province, China June 6, 2024. REUTERS/Florence Lo
Representation photo: Employees work at the office of humanoid robots developer Ex-Robots in Dalian, Liaoning province, China June 6, 2024. REUTERS/Florence Lo
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Intuitive Surgical Results Beat on Growing Demand for Surgical Robots

Representation photo: Employees work at the office of humanoid robots developer Ex-Robots in Dalian, Liaoning province, China June 6, 2024. REUTERS/Florence Lo
Representation photo: Employees work at the office of humanoid robots developer Ex-Robots in Dalian, Liaoning province, China June 6, 2024. REUTERS/Florence Lo

Intuitive Surgical on Thursday beat estimates for second-quarter profit and revenue on growing demand for its surgical robots used in minimally invasive procedures, sending its shares up 6.7% after the bell.
Investor expectations around medical device makers have grown lately on hopes of elevated demand for surgical procedures as people, especially older adults, opt for medical procedures deferred during the pandemic, Reuters said.
On an adjusted basis, Intuitive earned $1.78 per share for the quarter ended June 30, beating analysts' estimates of $1.54 per share, according to LSEG data.
The company reported quarterly revenue of $2.01 billion, compared with analysts' estimates of $1.97 billion.
The rise in revenue was driven in part by growth in the procedure volume from the company's surgical robots called da Vinci. Worldwide da Vinci procedure volumes rose about 17%, from a year ago, the company said.
Industry bellwether Johnson & Johnson on Wednesday posted a 2.2% rise in second quarter sales at its medical technology business, but fell short of analysts' estimates.
Larger peer Abbott Laboratories also raised its annual profit forecast, helped by double-digit growth in sales of its glucose monitors and strong demand for heart devices.



Apple Airlifted iPhones Worth a Record $2 Billion from India in March as Trump Tariffs Loomed

A man walks past a poster of an Apple iPhone 16 at a store in Denpasar on Indonesia's resort island of Bali on April 12, 2025. (AFP)
A man walks past a poster of an Apple iPhone 16 at a store in Denpasar on Indonesia's resort island of Bali on April 12, 2025. (AFP)
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Apple Airlifted iPhones Worth a Record $2 Billion from India in March as Trump Tariffs Loomed

A man walks past a poster of an Apple iPhone 16 at a store in Denpasar on Indonesia's resort island of Bali on April 12, 2025. (AFP)
A man walks past a poster of an Apple iPhone 16 at a store in Denpasar on Indonesia's resort island of Bali on April 12, 2025. (AFP)

Apple's main India suppliers Foxconn and Tata shipped nearly $2 billion worth of iPhones to the United States in March, an all-time high, as the US company airlifted devices to bypass President Donald Trump's impending tariffs, customs data shows.

The smartphone maker stepped up production in India and chartered cargo flights to ferry 600 tons of iPhones to the United States to ensure sufficient inventory in one of its biggest markets on concern Trump's tariffs would push up costs.

In April, the US administration imposed 26% duties on imports from India, much lower than the more than 100% China was facing at the time. Trump has since paused most duties, except for China for three months.

Foxconn, Apple's main India supplier, exported smartphones worth $1.31 billion in March, its highest ever for a single month and equal to shipments for January and February combined, according to commercially available customs data reviewed by Reuters.

This included Apple iPhone 13, 14, 16 and 16e models, and took Foxconn's total shipments from India to the United States this year to $5.3 billion.

Exports from Tata Electronics, another Apple supplier, stood at $612 million in March, around 63% higher than the previous month, and included iPhone 15 and 16 models.

Apple, Foxconn and Tata did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Reuters is the first to report the shipment details.

Customs data showed all Foxconn shipments to the United States in March were by air from the Chennai Air Cargo terminal, and landed at various locations, including Los Angeles and New York, with Chicago receiving the majority.

Trump later granted exclusions from steep tariffs on smartphones and some other electronics imported largely from China, but later indicated that those exemptions will likely be short-lived.

To expedite shipments, Apple lobbied Indian airport authorities to cut the time needed to clear customs at Chennai airport in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, to six hours down from 30 hours.

At least six cargo jets were used in the operation which one source described was a way to "beat the tariffs".