UPDATE: BTIG Upgrades Intuitive Surgical

In a note released Wednesday morning, BTIG analyst Sean Lavin upgraded shares of Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG) from Neutral to Buy and announced a $585 price target.

In light of Intuitive's earnings release on Tuesday, Lavin commented, "Though shares may not trade up a whole lot over the next 2-3 months, we believe many things we learned last night will lead to long-term growth and share appreciation over the next year, and likely over the next 3-5 years."

Looking ahead, Lavin said Xi sales should be driven by general surgeries exceeding expectations. Furthermore, he noted capital spending is improving and pointed to China's authorization to purchase 38 new machines. Finally, he noted this upswing in general surgery adoption may make Intuitive Surgical a prime target for an acquisition bid.

Amid the upgrade, shares of Intuitive were up ~1.5 percent in Wednesday's pre-market session.