Is It Too Late to Buy Intuitive Surgical Stock?

If you're a long-term investor, you already know that your job is to pick the best-performing companies in rapidly expanding industries. If you buy a stock at the right time in the company's lifespan, you'll have a much higher chance of benefiting as it settles into its market. On the other hand, if you miscalculate, you're liable to buy at precisely the wrong time, leaving you to watch as your investment trickles away over the next few months or years.

It's easy to see the risk of this trap with stocks like Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG), which makes the Da Vinci robotic surgical suite. Its stock has increased nearly 30% this year, echoing its strong performance since 2018, and its price is near its all-time highs. Nonetheless, the company's quarterly revenue shrank by 4.5% year over year, and its earnings contracted by nearly 21%. That's enough to get alarm bells ringing for most investors. But does it mean it's too late to invest? Are Intuitive's best days in the past, or can it rally from its losses this year?

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Source Fool.com