Earnings Watch: Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) & Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM)

Cigarette company Philip Morris International Inc.(NYSE:PM) is expected to report adjusted earnings of $1.39 a share for its September quarter on Thursday on revenues of $8.21 billion, a marginal slowdown compared to a year earlier, when it reported larger volume gains.

Tax hike during the year and controls on tobacco farming may had an impact on cigarette and these are some factors that need to be watch out for, as they may have an impact on the future as well.

How Should Investors Trade PM Now? Find Out Here

Smokers are facing new tax hikes, ban on smoking and other health concerns but the impact of all this is more in the case of U.S. than in many other countries.

Phillips Morris has offset lower volumes of cigarettes being sold by cutting costs and raising prices of its various brands.

Cigarette shipments fell about 1 percent to 238.3 billion in the second quarter that ended in June, but its market share increased or remained stable in many key areas.

Shares of Intuitive Surgical, Inc.(NASDAQ:ISRG) in the third quarter rose to $183 million, or $4.46 per share, from $122 million, or $3.05 per share, a year ago.

Revenue rose about 20 percent to $538 million, primarily driven by the sale of 155 da Vinci systems at a cost of about $1.5 million each. That exceeded Wall Street estimates of $535.4 million.

The rise in profit was due to increased sales of its premium da Vinci surgical robot systems.

Shares of ISRG fell 2.37% to $521.95 in the opening session.