Intuitive Surgical vs Zimmer Biomet
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KIRA’s take AI analyst
I put Intuitive Surgical and Zimmer Biomet side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:
- Intuitive Surgical is the larger business, with $10.1B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $8.2B for Zimmer Biomet.
- Intuitive Surgical grew revenue faster (20.5%, against 7.2%).
- Intuitive Surgical kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (29.3% operating margin, against 13.3%).
- Intuitive Surgical turned more of its sales into free cash flow (24.8% FCF margin, against 17.9%).
- Intuitive Surgical earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (20.9%, against 4.9%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Intuitive Surgical’s earnings: a P/E of 54.7x against 23.7x for Zimmer Biomet.
Who comes out ahead
Of the 11 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.
Intuitive Surgical
ISRG
8/11
Revenue growth5-year growthOperating marginNet marginFCF marginReturn on capitalReturn on equityNet debt / EBITDA
Zimmer Biomet
ZBH
3/11
Gross marginPiotroski F-scoreShare count change
Side by side
Best in the row
| Latest fiscal year | ISRG FY25 | ZBH FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $158.8B | $18.8B |
| Revenue | $10.1B | $8.2B |
| Free cash flow | $2.5B | $1.5B |
| Net income | $2.9B | $705M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 20.5% | 7.2% |
| 5-year growth | 18.2% | 6.1% |
| Share count change | 0.2% | −2.6% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 66.0% | 69.7% |
| Operating margin | 29.3% | 13.3% |
| Net margin | 28.4% | 8.6% |
| FCF margin | 24.8% | 17.9% |
| Return on capital | 20.9% | 4.9% |
| Return on equity | 16.7% | 5.6% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$5.9B | $6.9B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −1.7x | 3.2x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $2.3B | $677M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 54.7x | 23.7x |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | 6 |
Ten years
Revenue
Operating margin
Free cash flow
Return on capital
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.