Intuitive Surgical management check
ISRG · Health Care · Health Care Equipment · CEO David J. Rosa / Gary S. Guthart, Ph.D.
Filings as of
4 good · 3 to watch · 0 flagged, across the seven questions below.
- Good
Have owners done well?
Beat its chosen peers$100 invested at the start of fiscal 2021 grew to $287, against $103 for the peer group the company picked itself.
- Good
Does pay follow performance?
Pay rose and fell with returnsOver 5 years, the CEO's pay actually paid (equity valued at the share price) had a correlation of 0.80 with shareholder return. 1 means pay moved in step; below 0, the opposite way.
- Good
What does the CEO cost owners?
0.7% of net income$21.0m of reported pay in fiscal 2025, against $2.9bn of net income.
- Watch
Do they own the stock?
CEO stake ≈ 4.9 years of payThe CEO holds 247,803 shares, directly or through trusts (unvested awards not counted): about 4.9 years of pay. Light activity: no buys, $8.1m sold in six months. 35 of 35 sales ran on pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans.
- Watch
Are owners being diluted?
Share count growingDiluted shares changed +0.7% a year over the last three fiscal years. Stock-based pay was 7.8% of revenue in the latest year.
- Watch
Is leadership stable?
2 CEOs in the pay tableCEOs in the pay table: Gary S. Guthart, Ph.D., David J. Rosa / Gary S. Guthart, Ph.D.. 9 filings under 8-K item 5.02 (officers or directors leaving or joining, or new pay arrangements) in the last 3 years.
- Good
Are the books clean?
No red flags on fileNo restatements, auditor changes or late filings since 2021.
Against the S&P 500
Each check's score (0–100) and how it compares: the share of ranked S&P 500 companies it matches or beats, and the median in Health Care.
| Check | Score | At or above | Sector median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner returns | 100 | 26 | |
| Pay for performance | 90 | 85 | |
| CEO cost | 61 | 44 | |
| Skin in the game | 69 | 46 | |
| Dilution | 41 | 68 | |
| Stable leadership | 40 | 70 | |
| Clean books | 100 | 100 |
Closest peers
Others in Health Care Equipment, by management score. Intuitive Surgical is 16th of 60 in its sector.
- 115ABTAbbott Laboratories75
- 149SYKStryker Corporation72
- 156ISRGIntuitive Surgical72
- 188IDXXIdexx Laboratories69
- 192BSXBoston Scientific69
- 246RVTYRevvity64
- 256GEHCGE HealthCare64
- 294RMDResMed62
- 321STESteris60
- 353BDXBecton Dickinson58
Pay versus performance
From the proxy statement filed March 13, 2026. "Actually paid" values stock awards at the share price, so it rises and falls with the stock.
| Fiscal year | CEO | CEO pay | Actually paid | Other executives (avg) | $100 became | Peers | Net income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | David J. Rosa / Gary S. Guthart, Ph.D. | $21.0m | $26.4m | $6.4m | $287 | $103 | $2.9bn |
| 2024 | Gary S. Guthart, Ph.D. | $18.2m | $42.6m | $8.4m | $265 | $104 | $2.3bn |
| 2023 | Gary S. Guthart, Ph.D. | $12.4m | $22.7m | $6.9m | $171 | $99 | $1.8bn |
| 2022 | Gary S. Guthart, Ph.D. | $10.3m | $1.6m | $5.0m | $135 | $105 | $1.3bn |
| 2021 | Gary S. Guthart, Ph.D. | $8.1m | $17.5m | $4.5m | $182 | $137 | $1.7bn |
The board says pay is tied most to (3)AOI. Its other key measures: AOI, Relative TSR, Da Vinci and Ion procedure growth.
Insiders and the CEO's stake
David J. Rosa (Chief Executive Officer (CEO)) held 247,803 shares directly after their latest Form 4 on Jul 10, 2026, roughly $102.0m at that filing's price.
Light activity: no buys, $8.1m sold in six months. 35 of 35 sales ran on pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans.
- SoldGary S GuthartDirector · 10b5-1 plan$4.0mAug 11, 2026
- SoldIman JeddiSVP & GM da Vinci Platforms & · 10b5-1 plan$2.4mJun 1, 2026
- SoldGary LoebEVP & Chief Legal and Complian · 10b5-1 plan$500kAug 10, 2026
- SoldAmy L LaddDirector · 10b5-1 plan$472kAug 11, 2026
Leadership and governance on file
- May 28, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 4, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Dec 18, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 15, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 5, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jan 6, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jul 25, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Apr 30, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Oct 31, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 16, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 3, 2022Leadership change8-K 5.02
Latest shareholder vote results: May 4, 2026, including the say-on-pay vote.
Where the money went
Over 2021–2025: $5.3bn returned to owners in buybacks and dividends, 53% of net income, and $3.0bn of pay in stock.
| Fiscal year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $5.7bn | $6.2bn | $7.1bn | $8.4bn | $10.1bn |
| Net income | $1.7bn | $1.3bn | $1.8bn | $2.3bn | $2.9bn |
| Stock-based pay | $449.2m | $513.2m | $592.8m | $676.8m | $788.2m |
| Buybacks | $0 | $2.6bn | $416.3m | $0 | $2.3bn |
| Dividends | — | — | — | — | — |
| Diluted shares | 366m | 362m | 357m | 362m | 363m |
Educational only, not investment advice. Figures are as filed with the SEC: pay from the proxy's pay-versus-performance table, capital allocation from 10-K XBRL data, insider trades from Form 4s over the last six months, events from the last 5 years of filings. The peer group is the one the company chose. See the method.