Disruptive companies with disruptive offerings can end up being the star performers in your portfolio. Not every such company becomes a long-term winner, but plenty do. Think of how Amazon got people buying books (and then many other items) online, how Apple introduced such a successful tablet in the iPad, and how Zoom Video Communications made conference calling easy for anyone.
Here are three more innovators to get to know better — and to consider for berths in your portfolio.
1. Intuitive Surgical
Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG) is a giant in the field of robotic surgery. Founded in 1995, it launched the da Vinci robotic surgery system in 2000. And now, some 22 years later, there are more than 6,700 da Vinci systems installed worldwide (many, if not most, costing more than $1 million). More than 10 million procedures have been performed with the system.
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In 2019, Intuitive introduced another robotic surgery platform, the Ion endoluminal system, a robotic-assisted bronchoscopy platform to improve early lung cancer detection. These technologies have disrupted the way that many surgeries are performed, and have rewarded long-term shareholders well. Over the past decade, for example, shares of Intuitive Surgical have grown by an annual average of 13.4%. Over the past 20 years, that average is 31.1%.
One very appealing aspect of Intuitive is its business model: Customers buy a robotic surgery system, and then they make many more recurring purchases — for servicing, supplies, and accessories for the machines. It’s the old razor-and-blades model.
The company has plenty of room for further growth as it rolls out new systems, sells more systems, and gains approval for its machines to perform more procedures. In the company’s first quarter, the number of procedures performed jumped 19% over year-ago levels. Despite that, shares were recently 47% below their 52-week highs. All things considered, there’s a lot to like about Intuitive Surgical.
2. Airbnb
Airbnb (NASDAQ: ABNB) is a growth stock that has clearly disrupted the hotel industry’s status quo with its peer-to-peer rental platform. It traces its roots back to 2007, when its founders rented out air mattresses in their San Francisco apartment.
There are now roughly 4 million hosts renting out spaces on Airbnb, and together they’ve welcomed more than 1 billion guests, while earning more than $150 billion. The company puts the average earnings per host at $13,800, an impressive figure, especially when you remember that it’s just an average. Certainly, plenty of hosts are earning much more.
Airbnb has become such a disruptive force that some are claiming that it’s disrupting not only the hotel industry, but also …….