Intuitive Surgical Inc. said its board authorized the repurchase of as much as an additional $1 billion of the maker of robotic surgery systems’ stock.
Chief Financial Officer Marshall Mohr said that while Intuitive Surgical continues to spend to advance its technology, increase its presence abroad and drive adoption of robotic-assisted minimally invasive surgery, it also aims to return cash to shareholders. “This authorization gives us the flexibility to act given the right opportunity,” he added.
The company plans to fund the repurchase program through cash and investments. As of the end of 2014, Intuitive Surgical had roughly $2.5 billion in cash, cash equivalents and investments.
Intuitive Surgical recently had a market capitalization of about $17.93 billion, according to FactSet.
Last month, Intuitive Surgical reported that its fourth-quarter profit fell 12%, as operating expenses offset higher revenue from an increase in procedures performed with its da Vinci robotic surgical system.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
