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Intuitive Surgical Inc. – ‘10-Q’ for 3/31/21 – ‘EX-101.DEF’

On:  Wednesday, 4/21/21, at 4:25pm ET   ·   For:  3/31/21   ·   Accession #:  1035267-21-67   ·   File #:  0-30713

Previous ‘10-Q’:  ‘10-Q’ on 10/19/20 for 9/30/20   ·   Next:  ‘10-Q’ on 7/21/21 for 6/30/21   ·   Latest:  ‘10-Q’ on 4/19/24 for 3/31/24   ·   1 Reference:  To:  Intuitive Surgical Inc. – ‘8-K’ on / for 2/1/21

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  As Of               Filer                 Filing    For·On·As Docs:Size

 4/21/21  Intuitive Surgical Inc.           10-Q        3/31/21   76:7.6M

Quarterly Report   —   Form 10-Q
Filing Table of Contents

Document/Exhibit                   Description                      Pages   Size 

 1: 10-Q        Quarterly Report                                    HTML    804K 
 2: EX-3.1      Articles of Incorporation/Organization or Bylaws    HTML     59K 
 3: EX-31.1     Certification -- §302 - SOA'02                      HTML     27K 
 4: EX-31.2     Certification -- §302 - SOA'02                      HTML     27K 
 5: EX-32.1     Certification -- §906 - SOA'02                      HTML     24K 
 6: EX-32.2     Certification -- §906 - SOA'02                      HTML     24K 
13: R1          Cover Page                                          HTML     75K 
14: R2          Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited)   HTML     99K 
15: R3          Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets               HTML     39K 
                (Parenthetical)                                                  
16: R4          Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive  HTML     91K 
                Income (Unaudited)                                               
17: R5          Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows     HTML    100K 
                (Unaudited)                                                      
18: R6          Description of the Business                         HTML     25K 
19: R7          Summary of Significant Accounting Policies          HTML     30K 
20: R8          Financial Instruments                               HTML    163K 
21: R9          Balance Sheet Details and Other Financial           HTML     59K 
                Information                                                      
22: R10         Revenue and Contract Acquisition Costs              HTML     60K 
23: R11         Leases                                              HTML     40K 
24: R12         Goodwill and Intangible Assets                      HTML     54K 
25: R13         Contingencies                                       HTML     36K 
26: R14         Stockholders' Equity                                HTML    138K 
27: R15         Share-Based Compensation                            HTML     66K 
28: R16         Income Taxes                                        HTML     27K 
29: R17         Net Income Per Share                                HTML     36K 
30: R18         Summary of Significant Accounting Policies          HTML     33K 
                (Policies)                                                       
31: R19         Financial Instruments (Tables)                      HTML    167K 
32: R20         Balance Sheet Details and Other Financial           HTML     67K 
                Information (Tables)                                             
33: R21         Revenue and Contract Acquisition Costs (Tables)     HTML     66K 
34: R22         Leases (Tables)                                     HTML     80K 
35: R23         Goodwill and Intangible Assets (Tables)             HTML     56K 
36: R24         Stockholders' Equity (Tables)                       HTML    142K 
37: R25         Share-Based Compensation (Tables)                   HTML     72K 
38: R26         Net Income Per Share (Tables)                       HTML     36K 
39: R27         FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS - Summary of Cash and         HTML     85K 
                Available-For-Sale Securities (Details)                          
40: R28         FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS - Summary of Contractual      HTML     39K 
                Maturities of Cash Equivalents and                               
                Available-For-Sale Investments (Details)                         
41: R29         FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS - Summary of Equity           HTML     46K 
                Investment Activity (Details)                                    
42: R30         FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS - Derivative Instruments      HTML     34K 
                Used to Hedge against Balance Sheet Foreign                      
                Currency Exposures (Details)                                     
43: R31         FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS - Gross Notional Amounts for  HTML     37K 
                Outstanding Derivatives (Details)                                
44: R32         BALANCE SHEET DETAILS AND OTHER FINANCIAL           HTML     32K 
                INFORMATION - Inventory (Details)                                
45: R33         BALANCE SHEET DETAILS AND OTHER FINANCIAL           HTML     34K 
                INFORMATION - Prepaids and Other Current Assets                  
                (Details)                                                        
46: R34         BALANCE SHEET DETAILS AND OTHER FINANCIAL           HTML     34K 
                INFORMATION - Other Accrued Liabilities -                        
                Short-term (Details)                                             
47: R35         BALANCE SHEET DETAILS AND OTHER FINANCIAL           HTML     31K 
                INFORMATION - Other Long-term Liabilities                        
                (Details)                                                        
48: R36         BALANCE SHEET DETAILS AND OTHER FINANCIAL           HTML     29K 
                INFORMATION - Supplemental Cash Flow Information                 
                (Details)                                                        
49: R37         REVENUE AND CONTRACT ACQUISITION COSTS - Revenue    HTML     42K 
                Disaggregated by Types and Geography (Details)                   
50: R38         REVENUE AND CONTRACT ACQUISITION COSTS -            HTML     33K 
                Additional Information (Details)                                 
51: R39         REVENUE AND CONTRACT ACQUISITION COSTS - Summary    HTML     27K 
                of Contract Assets and Liabilities (Details)                     
52: R40         REVENUE AND CONTRACT ACQUISITION COSTS -            HTML     27K 
                Sales-type and Operating Lease Revenue (Details)                 
53: R41         LEASES - Lease Receivables (Details)                HTML     37K 
54: R42         LEASES - Schedule of Contractual Maturities of      HTML     37K 
                Gross Lease Receivables (Details)                                
55: R43         LEASES - Credit Quality Indicator (Details)         HTML     50K 
56: R44         LEASES - Additional Information (Details)           HTML     27K 
57: R45         Intangible Assets, Goodwill and Other (Details)     HTML     29K 
58: R46         GOODWILL AND INTANGIBLE ASSETS - Schedule of        HTML     29K 
                Summary of Changes in Goodwill (Details)                         
59: R47         GOODWILL AND INTANGIBLE ASSETS - Schedule of        HTML     37K 
                Intangible Assets (Details)                                      
60: R48         GOODWILL AND INTANGIBLE ASSETS - Schedule Of        HTML     37K 
                Estimated Future Amortization Expense Of                         
                Intangible Assets (Details)                                      
61: R49         STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY - Schedule of Stockholders     HTML     84K 
                Equity (Details)                                                 
62: R50         STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY - Schedule of Share            HTML     35K 
                Repurchase Activities (Details)                                  
63: R51         STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY - Stock Repurchase Program     HTML     33K 
                (Details)                                                        
64: R52         STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY - Components of Accumulated    HTML     92K 
                Other Comprehensive Income, Net of Tax (Details)                 
65: R53         SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION - Additional Information   HTML     48K 
                (Details)                                                        
66: R54         SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION - Summary of Stock Option  HTML     44K 
                Activity Under All Stock Plans (Details)                         
67: R55         SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION - Summary of RSU Activity  HTML     46K 
                (Details)                                                        
68: R56         SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION - Stock-Based              HTML     40K 
                Compensation Expense (Details)                                   
69: R57         SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION - Schedule of Estimated    HTML     37K 
                Fair Value of Option Using Black-Scholes Option                  
                Pricing Model, Weighted Average Assumptions                      
                (Details)                                                        
70: R58         INCOME TAXES - Additional Information (Details)     HTML     35K 
71: R59         NET INCOME PER SHARE - Computation of Basic and     HTML     45K 
                Diluted Net Income Per Share (Details)                           
72: R60         NET INCOME PER SHARE - Additional Information       HTML     24K 
                (Details)                                                        
74: XML         IDEA XML File -- Filing Summary                      XML    136K 
12: XML         XBRL Instance -- isrg-20210331_htm                   XML   1.97M 
73: EXCEL       IDEA Workbook of Financial Reports                  XLSX     84K 
 8: EX-101.CAL  XBRL Calculations -- isrg-20210331_cal               XML    262K 
 9: EX-101.DEF  XBRL Definitions -- isrg-20210331_def                XML    482K 
10: EX-101.LAB  XBRL Labels -- isrg-20210331_lab                     XML   1.50M 
11: EX-101.PRE  XBRL Presentations -- isrg-20210331_pre              XML    862K 
 7: EX-101.SCH  XBRL Schema -- isrg-20210331                         XSD    137K 
75: JSON        XBRL Instance as JSON Data -- MetaLinks              337±   530K 
76: ZIP         XBRL Zipped Folder -- 0001035267-21-000067-xbrl      Zip    274K 


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  As Of               Filer                 Filing    For·On·As Docs:Size             Issuer                      Filing Agent

 2/01/21  Intuitive Surgical Inc.           8-K:5,9     2/01/21   13:534K
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