Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) Competitors

DexCom (NASDAQ:DXCM) and Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, media sentiment, dividends, valuation, earnings, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Which has more risk and volatility, DXCM or ISRG?

DexCom has a beta of 1.48, suggesting that its share price is 48% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Intuitive Surgical has a beta of 1.61, suggesting that its share price is 61% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has better earnings and valuation, DXCM or ISRG?

Intuitive Surgical has higher revenue and earnings than DexCom. DexCom is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Intuitive Surgical, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
DexCom	$4.03B	7.62	$576.20M	$1.44	54.44
Intuitive Surgical	$8.35B	20.07	$2.32B	$7.17	65.21

Does the media favor DXCM or ISRG?

In the previous week, Intuitive Surgical had 33 more articles in the media than DexCom. MarketBeat recorded 56 mentions for Intuitive Surgical and 23 mentions for DexCom. Intuitive Surgical's average media sentiment score of 1.21 beat DexCom's score of 0.99 indicating that Intuitive Surgical is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
DexCom	15 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Intuitive Surgical	40 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	8 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is DXCM or ISRG more profitable?

Intuitive Surgical has a net margin of 28.51% compared to DexCom's net margin of 13.29%. DexCom's return on equity of 30.41% beat Intuitive Surgical's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
DexCom	13.29%	30.41%	10.08%
Intuitive Surgical	28.51%	14.56%	12.93%

Do institutionals & insiders believe in DXCM or ISRG?

97.8% of DexCom shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.6% of Intuitive Surgical shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of DexCom shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of Intuitive Surgical shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts rate DXCM or ISRG?

DexCom currently has a consensus target price of $99.89, suggesting a potential upside of 27.42%. Intuitive Surgical has a consensus target price of $595.95, suggesting a potential upside of 27.47%. Given Intuitive Surgical's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Intuitive Surgical is more favorable than DexCom.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
DexCom	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	14 Buy rating(s)	3 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.91
Intuitive Surgical	1 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	13 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60

Summary

Intuitive Surgical beats DexCom on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.