SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements (“Financial Statements”) of Intuitive Surgical, Inc. and its wholly and majority-owned subsidiaries have been prepared on a consistent basis with the audited Consolidated Financial Statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, and include all adjustments, consisting of only normal, recurring adjustments, necessary to fairly state the information set forth herein. The Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and, therefore, omit certain information and footnote disclosure necessary to present the Financial Statements in accordance with United States (“U.S.”) generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”). These Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the audited Consolidated Financial Statements and notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, which was filed with the SEC on February 7, 2020. The results of operations for the first three months of fiscal year 2020 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the entire fiscal year or any future periods.

Consolidation and Joint Ventures

The Financial Statements include the results and the balances of the Company’s majority-owned joint venture (referred to herein as the “Joint Venture”) with Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co., Ltd. (“Fosun Pharma”). The Company holds a controlling financial interest in the Joint Venture, and the noncontrolling interest is reflected as a separate component of consolidated stockholders’ equity. The noncontrolling interest’s share of the earnings in the Joint Venture is presented separately in the consolidated statements of income.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

Credit Losses

In June 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2016-13, Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments (Topic 326) (“Topic 326”), which replaces existing incurred loss impairment guidance and establishes a single allowance framework for financial assets carried at amortized cost. The Company adopted Topic 326 on January 1, 2020, using a modified retrospective transition method, which requires a cumulative-effect adjustment, if any, to the opening balance of retained earnings to be recognized on the date of adoption with prior periods not restated. The cumulative-effect adjustment recorded on January 1, 2020, is not material. Please see the description of the Company’s “Credit Losses” accounting policy in the “Significant Accounting Policies” section below.

Significant Accounting Policies

With the exception of the change for the accounting of credit losses as a result of the adoption of Topic 326, there have been no new or material changes to the significant accounting policies discussed in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, that are of significance, or potential significance, to the Company.

Credit Losses

Trade accounts receivable. The allowance for doubtful accounts is based on the Company’s assessment of the collectibility of customer accounts. The Company regularly reviews the allowance by considering factors such as historical experience, credit quality, the age of the accounts receivable balances, and current economic conditions that may affect a customer’s ability to pay. As of March 31, 2020, the Company recognized a year-to-date bad debt expense of $3.2 million.

Net investment in sales-type leases. The Company enters into sales-type leases with certain qualified customers to purchase its systems. Sales-type leases have terms that generally range from 24 to 84 months and are usually collateralized by a security interest in the underlying assets. The allowance for loan loss is based on the Company's assessment of current expected lifetime loss on lease receivables. The Company regularly reviews the allowance by considering factors such as historical experience, credit quality, the age of the lease receivable balances, and current economic conditions that may affect a customer's ability to pay. Lease receivables are considered past due 90 days after invoice.

The Company manages the credit risk in net investment in sales-type leases using a number of factors, including, but not limited to the following: credit score; size of operations; profitability, liquidity, and debt ratios; payment history; and past due amounts. The Company uses credit scores obtained from external providers as a key credit quality indicator for the purposes of determining credit quality. The following table presents credit quality by class of net investment in sales-type lease as of March 31, 2020. The following table summarizes the amortized cost basis by year of origination and credit quality indicator as of March 31, 2020 (in millions):


	2020		2019		2018		2017		2016		Prior		Net Investment
Credit Rating:
High	$	27.0	$	52.2	$	20.4	$	10.9	$	3.3	$	3.0	$	116.8
Moderate	27.3		37.7		25.3		10.6		5.2		0.3		106.4
Low	4.1		1.2		2.0		1.1		1.9		0.1		10.4
Total	$	58.4	$	91.1	$	47.7	$	22.6	$	10.4	$	3.4	$	233.6

As of March 31, 2020, the Company recognized a year-to-date credit loss of $0.9 million related to net investment in sales-type leases.

Available-for-sale debt securities. The Company's investment portfolio at any point in time contains investments in U.S. treasury and U.S. government agency securities, taxable and tax-exempt municipal notes, corporate notes and bonds, commercial paper, non-U.S. government agency securities, cash deposits, and money market funds. The Company segments its portfolio based on the underlying risk profiles of the securities and have a zero loss expectation for U.S. treasury and U.S. government agency securities. The Company regularly reviews the securities in an unrealized loss position and evaluates the current expected credit loss by considering factors such as historical experience, market data, issuer-specific factors, and current economic conditions. As of March 31, 2020, the Company recognized a year-to-date credit loss of $1.2 million related to available-for-sales debt securities.