Medtronic's cardiac ablation business grew 88% in the quarter, and that was on top of 50% growth in the same quarter of 2025.
The shares have done well and trade at 20 times reported earnings, which usually means the story is in the price. Bloomberg Intelligence's medtech analyst said the part investors are excited about — surgical robots — is the part that is not.
"They're the David in this David and Goliath story within robotics."
Matt Henriksson covers medical technology for Bloomberg Intelligence and models the surgical robotics market Medtronic is trying to break into, where a single competitor performs more procedures in a year than Medtronic has performed in total.
I listened to the full segment so you can skip it.
Here are the 5 takeaways that matter.
👤 Guest: Matt Henriksson, senior medtech analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, who covers medical devices and the surgical robotics market from Princeton, New Jersey
🎙️ Hosts: Scarlet Fu and Stacey Vanek Smith, who anchor Bloomberg Intelligence on Bloomberg Radio and Television
📰 Published: 1 September 2026 on the Bloomberg Intelligence podcast feed
🔴 YouTube | 🟣 Apple Podcasts | ⏱️ 5 min
Key Takeaways
Cardiac ablation grew 88% against a quarter that had already grown 50% The beat came from ablation and the cardiac rhythm business together
The earnings beat is what funds the robotics push, which is the long-term story Medtronic announced a partnership with Cornerstone Robotic Systems in Asia the same day
Henriksson does not think the robotics opportunity is in the share price The shares trade at 20 times reported earnings and 15 times estimated earnings
The gap to Intuitive Surgical is measured in orders of magnitude, not quarters Medtronic has highlighted 50,000 cumulative Hugo cases; Intuitive performed 3 million in 2025 alone
A faster, safer form of ablation is what is driving the growth, and the patient pool is large More than 30 million people in the United States have atrial fibrillation
1. Ablation Grew 88%
Scarlet Fu introduced the segment on Medtronic's results, noting the stock was higher that morning after a beat in the previous quarter, and asked how the numbers set up the company's move into robotics.
The quarter beat expectations, and two cardiac businesses did it. "Exceeded consensus expectations solidly this quarter, driven by their cardiac ablation business and their cardiac rhythm businesses."
The growth rate is the headline, and it is stacked on an already high base. "You saw those type of growth rates within cardiac ablation, 88%, and that's off of a 50% growth in the second quarter of 2025."
Henriksson's framing is that a quarter like this buys management the room to spend on longer-dated projects rather than defend the current numbers
2. A Second Robot, in Asia
The same morning brought a robotics partnership. "And you saw that today with the announcement that they were in a strategic partnership with Cornerstone Robotic Systems in Asia."
The point of a second system is optionality rather than replacement. "And that helps them create kind of this multiple shots on goal approach." The partnership covers robots for soft-tissue surgery and is meant to sit alongside Hugo, the system Medtronic developed in-house
Henriksson said it gives hospitals in Asia a choice of machine, and gives Medtronic a way into international and emerging markets it has not reached with its own robot
3. What the Hugo Robot Does
Stacey Vanek Smith asked what a robot-assisted surgery system actually is.
The hardware is familiar from other industries. "And so basically it's a robotic arm and kind of a similar robotic arm that you may see in automotive plants." The surgeon operates it to place an instrument or make an incision more precisely than by hand
The use cases are ordinary operations, not exotic ones. "So if you're thinking of hernia repair, if you're thinking of prostatectomies, these robotic arms allow to get into places inside the body that you're really not able to with an open procedure."
Hugo has launched in the United States and internationally
The volume target is a company figure and a forward one. "They highlighted 50,000 cases done cumulatively, potentially by the end of this fiscal 2027 for them."
4. Robotics Is Not in the Price
The show put it to him that the shares have done fairly well, trading at 20 times reported earnings and 15 times estimated earnings, and asked whether investors have already priced in the robotics program.
His answer was no. "I actually don't think they have."
The reason is the size of the incumbent. "They're the David in this David and Goliath story within robotics." "And Intuitive Surgical, which the ticker is ISRG, they're the behemoth in this robotic surgery market."
The scale gap is the number that makes the point. "And when I was talking about 50,000 cases cumulatively, Intuitive has done 3 million just in 2025 alone."
The market is big enough that being behind is not the same as being shut out. "So Medtronic has a lot to catch up, but it's still a large market when you think about that there's 20-plus million surgeries done worldwide."
He expects hospitals to keep automating and to treat the robot as a standard tool rather than a specialty purchase, which is why he calls this the right step even as a long-term project
5. Why Ablation Keeps Growing
Fu asked him to confirm what is making Medtronic money now, and whether it is the technology used to treat irregular heart rhythms.
Cardiac ablation destroys the small areas of heart tissue that cause an irregular rhythm; Henriksson said it is used for atrial fibrillation and other arrhythmias
The growth is coming from a change in how the tissue is treated. "The big momentum over the last few years has been this technology called pulsed field ablation." "And basically, it's a new energy source that kind of replaces the traditional heat or the freezing technology that has been used."
It wins on three measures at once. "So it's been shown to be safer, nearly as effective, and it's a quicker procedure time." A shorter procedure means a surgeon treats more patients in a year
The pool of patients is the reason the runway is long. "There's over 30 million patients in the U.S. that have AFib alone."
Faster treatment of a large patient population is what he expects to keep supporting revenue and earnings growth while the robotics investment matures
Bonus Insights
Henriksson's case is a sequencing argument rather than a growth argument: the cardiac businesses pay for the robotics program, and the robotics program is what changes the company's position a decade out
The same broadcast carried three other guests — Mark Gurman on Apple's leadership change, Ed Ludlow on Anthropic's $35 billion computing deal, and Gautam Mukunda on Bill Gates's AI essay. Each is written up separately
Henriksson's bottom line is that Medtronic's quarter was carried by heart devices while the thing that would re-rate the company, surgical robotics, is still small enough that investors are not paying for it.
Products, Companies & Tools Mentioned
Medtronic (Beat consensus on cardiac ablation and cardiac rhythm; the subject of the segment)
Hugo robotic-assisted surgery system (Medtronic's in-house surgical robot, with 50,000 cumulative cases highlighted through fiscal 2027)
Cornerstone Robotic Systems (The Asian robotics partner announced that morning, giving Medtronic a second soft-tissue system to offer hospitals)
Intuitive Surgical (The incumbent Henriksson calls the behemoth of robotic surgery, with 3 million cases in 2025 alone)
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