Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG) finished the regular session on Friday, December 12, 2025, lower—but after-hours trading stayed quiet, suggesting no major late-breaking catalyst hit the tape after the closing bell.
ISRG closed at $542.32, down $5.04 (-0.92%), after trading between $537.70 and $548.93 on the day, with about 2.08 million shares traded. [1] After the close, the stock was essentially flat, trading around $542.00 in late after-hours activity. [2]
One crucial calendar note before we get into the news roundup: December 13, 2025 is a Saturday, and U.S. stock markets are closed. So there’s no “Saturday open” for ISRG on Nasdaq—investors will be watching for developments over the weekend heading into the next regular session (Monday, December 15, 2025).
Below is what mattered for ISRG on Dec. 12, 2025, and what to keep in mind heading into the next market open.
After-hours recap: what ISRG did “after the bell” on Dec. 12, 2025
Friday’s story was simple: down during regular hours, flat after-hours.
- Regular session close: $542.32 (-0.92%) [3]
- After-hours: about $542.00 late Friday (fractionally lower) [4]
- Intraday range: $537.70 to $548.93 [5]
When a mega-cap name like Intuitive Surgical goes calm after-hours, it often signals a familiar reality: the “real” drivers were already in circulation during the session—analyst notes, market positioning, sector flows, and incremental filings rather than a surprise earnings release or a fresh corporate bombshell.
The key ISRG news and analysis published on Dec. 12, 2025
1) Wells Fargo lifted its price target (and kept an Overweight rating)
A top headline in Friday’s analyst flow: Wells Fargo raised its price target on Intuitive Surgical to $654 from $600 and maintained an Overweight rating (reporting credited to MT Newswires). [6]
MarketBeat’s analyst-timeline view shows the same move and attributes it to analyst Larry Biegelsen, listing the action as a target increase to $654 while keeping Overweight. [7]
Why this matters: a higher target price doesn’t guarantee higher near-term trading, but it does shape the narrative. Raising targets into weakness can be interpreted as “the pullback looks more like an entry than a warning”—especially when the company’s core story (robotic surgery procedures + recurring instruments revenue) remains intact.
2) The “most-watched” factor: ISRG trended, and Zacks highlighted estimates and valuation tension
A widely circulated Friday morning piece on Nasdaq (written by Zacks Equity Research) framed ISRG as one of the most-searched stocks and pulled out what many investors focus on heading into the next quarter:
- Expected EPS (current quarter): $2.25 (about +1.8% YoY) and the consensus estimate was unchanged over the last 30 days [8]
- Consensus EPS (current fiscal year): $8.61 (+17.3% YoY), unchanged over 30 days [9]
- Consensus EPS (next fiscal year): $9.57, up +11.2%, with a small +0.2% estimate change over the past month [10]
- Revenue forecast: current-quarter consensus sales estimate $2.72B (+12.6% YoY); fiscal-year estimates $9.92B (+18.7%) and $11.33B (+14.3%) for current and next fiscal years [11]
Zacks also labeled ISRG Rank #1 (Strong Buy) on its model, while simultaneously flagging valuation pressure: the article notes ISRG carries a Value Style Score of “F,” implying the stock trades at a premium relative to peers on Zacks’ metrics. [12]
The takeaway: Friday’s “bull case vs. valuation” debate wasn’t subtle. The business momentum narrative is strong; the market is also demanding a high price for that strength.
3) An insider-sales signal hit the tape: VP Mark Brosius filed a Form 144 (planned sale)
A Reuters/Refinitiv item published via TradingView reported that Mark Brosius, a Vice President at Intuitive Surgical, filed a Form 144 on Dec. 12, 2025 proposing a sale of restricted securities:
- Proposed shares: 5,276
- Broker: Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC
- Noted as: executed pursuant to a prearranged 10b5-1 trading plan [13]
What a Form 144 is (in plain English): it’s essentially a notice that an insider (or affiliate) intends to sell restricted/controlled securities under Rule 144. It’s not the same thing as a completed sale (those are typically reflected later via Form 4 filings), but it does put “potential supply” on investors’ radar.
Importantly, the Reuters/Refinitiv note explicitly mentions the sale plan being under 10b5‑1, which is commonly used to schedule trades ahead of time and reduce concerns about trading on material nonpublic information. [14]
4) Market context: mixed tape, analyst downgrades still in the background
A separate Nasdaq/Barchart market roundup posted Friday afternoon (Dec. 12) referenced that ISRG had previously closed down more than 1% after a Citigroup downgrade (contextualizing it among other notable market movers). [15]
That downgrade itself was dated Dec. 11, 2025 (Thursday), but it mattered for Friday’s setup because downgrades can linger as portfolio managers adjust positioning across more than one session.
MarketBeat’s analyst list shows Citigroup downgraded ISRG from Buy to Neutral and trimmed its target to $635 from $650. [16]
Where Wall Street stands right now: price targets and ratings
Across the large analyst-tracking services, the consensus picture on ISRG remains broadly constructive—with caveats.
MarketBeat’s consensus snapshot lists ISRG with a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target around $608–$609 (values can shift as targets update). [17]
Friday’s most prominent incremental change was Wells Fargo moving up to $654 while keeping Overweight. [18]
How to interpret this before the next open: the “center of gravity” for targets sits above Friday’s close, but the dispersion of ratings (upgrade vs. downgrade) signals investors are still arguing over the same two big questions:
- How durable is procedure growth and system placement momentum?
- How much of that durability is already priced in at today’s valuation?
Valuation and technical posture: why Friday’s dip didn’t create panic, but did keep pressure on
ISRG is not typically a stock that trades like a meme rocket. It trades like what it is: a high-quality, premium-priced MedTech leader—meaning pullbacks often come from multiple compression (valuation cooling), not sudden doubts about the company’s product relevance.
Two widely cited lenses from Friday’s coverage:
- Zacks’ valuation signal: ISRG’s Value Style Score “F” highlights that, by its framework, the stock screens expensive versus peers. [19]
- Short-term price action: one quantitative/technical service noted ISRG had fallen multiple days in a row, with Friday’s swing between roughly $537.7 and $548.9 and rising volume on a down day—often read as “active selling pressure,” though not necessarily capitulation. [20]
Meanwhile, ISRG’s Friday low ($537.70) and Friday high ($548.93) become immediate reference levels traders often watch into the next session. [21]
What to watch before the next market open (Monday, Dec. 15, 2025)
Because Saturday (Dec. 13) has no U.S. market session, the practical question becomes: what could change sentiment between now and Monday’s open?
Watch item 1: follow-through (or pushback) on the Wells Fargo $654 target
When a major shop lifts a target, other desks sometimes follow with their own notes—either agreeing, refining, or pushing back. The weekend itself can’t “trade” that debate, but Monday’s premarket headlines can.
Key detail to remember: the Wells Fargo action was a target raise from $600 to $654, with Overweight maintained. [22]
Watch item 2: insider-trading paper trail after the Form 144
The Form 144 from VP Mark Brosius is a signal of intent, not necessarily a completed sale. The next thing investors watch for is whether subsequent filings (often Form 4) reflect actual executed sales and at what prices.
The filing reported 5,276 shares under a 10b5‑1 plan, which lowers the “uh-oh” factor but doesn’t remove it entirely—price/volume still matter. [23]
Watch item 3: whether the stock stabilizes near Friday’s lows—or reclaims the top of Friday’s range
For a stock like ISRG, Monday’s first hour often answers one practical question: did Friday’s dip invite buyers, or did it trigger more de-risking?
Two “clean” reference points from Friday:
- Support zone: around the $537–$540 area (Friday’s low region) [24]
- Near-term resistance: around $549 (Friday’s high region) [25]
Watch item 4: estimates and guidance sensitivity heading into the next earnings cycle
Even without a confirmed earnings-date headline on Dec. 12, estimate focus tends to increase as the calendar rolls toward late January.
A Nasdaq earnings calendar page lists ISRG as estimated to report around Jan. 22, 2026 (note: “estimated” means investors should still verify via the company’s IR updates). [26]
Zacks’ Friday write-up highlights that consensus EPS estimates for the current quarter and fiscal year were largely stable over the last month—stability can be positive, but it also means valuation support depends on execution, not estimate momentum. [27]
Watch item 5: “old news” that still moves the stock—product momentum and procedure growth
Even though it wasn’t a new Dec. 12 press release, ISRG’s longer-running drivers remain the same: procedure volumes, system placements, and expansion of indications and geographies. Earlier in the week, Intuitive announced expanded indications for the da Vinci SP system, which can feed into long-term adoption narratives. [28]
Bottom line: what investors should know heading into Monday
By the end of Friday, Dec. 12, the market had effectively digested a familiar ISRG setup:
- The stock slipped during regular hours but didn’t break down after-hours. [29]
- Wells Fargo got more bullish on price target ($654) while maintaining Overweight, supporting the “premium business, premium future” framing. [30]
- A Form 144 from a company VP put a small insider-sales headline into circulation (under a 10b5‑1 plan). [31]
- Analysts and models continue to split the difference: strong growth expectations, but valuation sensitivity is real. [32]
With U.S. markets closed Saturday, the “pre-open” focus becomes a weekend watch for incremental headlines—then a clean read on Monday: does ISRG stabilize and attract buyers, or does the valuation debate keep the stock pinned down?
References
1. finance.yahoo.com, 2. finance.yahoo.com, 3. finance.yahoo.com, 4. finance.yahoo.com, 5. finance.yahoo.com, 6. www.marketscreener.com, 7. www.marketbeat.com, 8. www.nasdaq.com, 9. www.nasdaq.com, 10. www.nasdaq.com, 11. www.nasdaq.com, 12. www.nasdaq.com, 13. www.tradingview.com, 14. www.tradingview.com, 15. www.nasdaq.com, 16. www.marketbeat.com, 17. www.marketbeat.com, 18. www.marketbeat.com, 19. www.nasdaq.com, 20. stockinvest.us, 21. finance.yahoo.com, 22. www.marketbeat.com, 23. www.tradingview.com, 24. finance.yahoo.com, 25. finance.yahoo.com, 26. www.nasdaq.com, 27. www.nasdaq.com, 28. isrg.intuitive.com, 29. finance.yahoo.com, 30. www.marketbeat.com, 31. www.tradingview.com, 32. www.nasdaq.com
