It’s Official: MAKO Surgical Corp. (MAKO) Is Back on Track

If you were worried about MAKO Surgical Corp. (NASDAQ:MAKO) going into its quarterly report this week, worry no more.

MAKO Surgical Corp. (NASDAQ:MAKO) shareholders rejoiced after the company released second-quarter results after the market closed on Tuesday, which sent the stock up as much as 9% in after-hours trading Tuesday.

So if the decent first-quarter numbers put up by the robotic surgery specialist in May weren’t good enough for you, I think these results officially show MAKO Surgical Corp. (NASDAQ:MAKO) is back on track.

But why, specifically, is everyone so excited?

Capital sales weakness? Nah.
On one hand, second-quarter revenue grew 19% from the same year-ago period to $28.2 million, slightly beating analysts’ estimates that called for sales of $28.5 million.

Remember, this flies in the face of recent concerns that arose after shares of MAKO Surgical Corp. (NASDAQ:MAKO)’s soft-tissue cousin Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) fell by as much as 18% earlier this month when it pre-announced painful quarterly results, primarily due to weakness in U.S. capital sales.

Sure enough, and as I suggested at the time, MAKO Surgical Corp. (NASDAQ:MAKO)’s strong showing effectively highlights the fact these are two different businesses in two very different places on the technology adoption curve. Luckily for MAKO Surgical Corp. (NASDAQ:MAKO), this so happens to be one time sitting near the beginning of that curve has its advantages, as Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) must sell many, many more of its own daVinci robotic surgery systems in any given quarter than MAKO needs to meet its goals.

In all, the folks at MAKO sold 10 RIO Systems during the quarter, with eight placed domestically and the remaining two sold through international distributors in Italy and Turkey. Curiously enough, MAKO’s revenue didn’t include proceeds from the sale associated with MAKO’s Italian distributor, which will be deferred until all revenue recognition criteria are satisfied.

For those of you keeping track, that brings the total number of robots sold by MAKO so far this year to 15, which in turn brings MAKO’s total worldwide commercial installed base to 171 systems, 164 of which are placed here in the U.S.

What’s more, nine of MAKO’s total hip arthroplasty applications were sold in the second quarter, including six sold with the new RIO systems and three as upgrades for existing customers. At the end of June, 65% of MAKO’s commercial installed base was equipped with the MAKOplasty THA application.