I sold half of my ISRG (20 shares at $359.99) earlier this week. I like the company, like its growth, but it had gotten even more overpriced than when I bought it. Now I look smart, because ISRG plummeted today to $290 a share.
Why? I can’t really figure that out. They announced earnings today, and near as I can tell, they were excellent — revenue up 54%, income up 88%. I guess when you’ve got a p/e of 100 on excellent profits, expectations can run pretty high, and even 88% growth doesn’t stack up.
Now the price looks a lot more like it does when I bought it in the first place — it looks worth maybe $230 a share, and that growth looks pretty exciting. I’m not piling on more until it drops another $60 (which it probably won’t), but I certainly wouldn’t mock anybody who wanted to get in now.
Hey Joe – what was their guidance for next quarter? One thing I’ve learned owning Apple is that they can have a spectacular quarter, but if their guidance for the next quarter isn’t what “Wall Street” was expecting, the stock gets hammered. “Wall Street” are idiots
April 18th, 2008 | #
I didn’t notice the guidance, but it must have been negative, because analyst estimates for the year dropped by six cents, while they this quarter’s estimates by fourteen cents. So that must mean they’re expecting seven cents less per quarter over the next three, right?
Seems unlikely. Like I said, I’m now cheering for ISRG to drop even further — if it gets down to $230 I’ll buy it right back. It’s only $275 now…
April 22nd, 2008 | #