Machines Like Us

You would never know a recession might be under way from looking at Intuitive Surgical, the leader in medical robot technology.

Hospitals have shown no sign yet of curbing their enthusiasm for the company’s half-ton Da Vinci surgical robots, which sell for nearly $1.4 million each. The machines, which human surgeons direct from computerized consoles, are now widely used for high-precision prostate surgery and are being adopted for many other types of procedures.

Intuitive’s investors, meanwhile, have seemed almost giddy. After the company recently announced a better-than-expected fourth quarter, its shares rose $51.60, or 20 percent, to $305.61 in a single day. Shares rose $1.14, to close at $301.82 on Monday.

Read full story in The New York Times.