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Most readers would already be aware that Intuitive Surgical's (NASDAQ:ISRG) stock increased significantly by 42% over the past three months. Given the company's impressive performance, we decided to study its financial indicators more closely as a company's financial health over the long-term usually dictates market outcomes. In this article, we decided to focus on Intuitive Surgical's ROE.
Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.
See our latest analysis for Intuitive Surgical
How Is ROE Calculated?
The formula for ROE is:
Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity
So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Intuitive Surgical is:
12% = US$1.4b ÷ US$12b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2022).
The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. One way to conceptualize this is that for each $1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made $0.12 in profit.
Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?
We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. Depending on how much of these profits the company reinvests or "retains", and how effectively it does so, we are then able to assess a company’s earnings growth potential. Assuming all else is equal, companies that have both a higher return on equity and higher profit retention are usually the ones that have a higher growth rate when compared to companies that don't have the same features.
Intuitive Surgical's Earnings Growth And 12% ROE
To begin with, Intuitive Surgical seems to have a respectable ROE. Further, the company's ROE is similar to the industry average of 11%. This certainly adds some context to Intuitive Surgical's moderate 13% net income growth seen over the past five years.
As a next step, we compared Intuitive Surgical's net income growth with the industry and were disappointed to see that the company's growth is lower than the industry average growth of 17% in the same period.
The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. It’s important for an investor to know whether the market has priced in the company's expected earnings growth (or decline). Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. Is Intuitive Surgical fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.