Investing.com -- Shares in Intuitive Surgical Inc (O:ISRG) were relatively flat in after-hours trading after the California-based advanced robotic surgical system manufacturer reported stronger than expected quarterly results and announced it has received regulatory approval for an integrated table motion product.
For the company's fourth quarter, which ended in late-January, Intuitive Surgical reported net earnings of $190 million, or $4.99 a share, up from $146.8 million, or $3.94 a share during the same period in 2014. Adjusted earnings per share, excluding one-time items increased by nearly 20% on the quarter 4.92 to 5.89
It came as worldwide procedures for its Da Vinci minimally invasive robotic surgeries increased 15% for the quarter, due primarily to a surge in worldwide urologic procedures and general surgeries in the U.S. The company also shipped 158 surgical systems for the quarter, representing an increase of 35% from the previous quarter and 15% on an annual basis.
As a result, Intuitive Surgical had $677 million in revenues on the quarter, up 13% from sales of $601 million during the fourth quarter of 2014. Analysts expected the company to report adjusted per share earnings of 5.04 on revenues of $654.7 million.
For the year as a whole, the company finished with GAAP revenue of $2.4 billion, up from $2.1 billion in 2014. The company also reported full-year diluted per share earnings of $15.54, compared to $11.11 in 2014.
"(It) was a good year for Intuitive with increased used of our products around the globe and solid operation focus in 2015," CEO Gary Gunthart said in a conference call on Thursday. "Our focus was to drive adoption of our platform in general surgery and expand our DaVinci surgical system product line, increase our organizational capability and performance in international markets and improve contribution margins for our newly-launched products."
"Themes that emerged at the close of 2014, continued in 2015 with strong performance in general surgery and international procedure growth."
Also on Thursday, Intuitive Surgical announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared the company's proposal to combine the DaVinci surgical system with Trumpf Medical's advanced operating table, the TruSystem 7000 dv. The integration, according to the company, will help surgeons and anesthesiologists make table adjustments more easily and efficiently.
Shares in Intuitive Surgical rose 1.90 or 0.34% to 557.50 in after-hours trading.