It was reported today that robotic surgery company Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG) may not meet analysts average revenue expectations for 2008 and this is driving shares down $7.00 hovering around $281 per share.

Although the company guidance discussed figures around $850 million while the analysts were GUESSING $873 million temporary disappointment is affecting trading. Despite this, Eli Kammerman of Cowen & Co is maintaining his "Outperform" rating saying that he expects Intuitive to beat Wall Street expectations, and that the shares will outpace the market by 15 percent to 20 percent over the next 12 months.

So earnings might be in question, the stock is bouncing, the outperform rating is intact, and everybody still loves Intuitive -- but the stock is down so far on what is an up day. It was only a month ago I posted something similar Chasing Value: Intuitive Surgical drops on analyst disappointment after ISRG report actual earnings. If not for the analysts where would we find opportunity?

Is this a buying opportunity or signs of a week market? That answer involves more guessing, but if the stock trends down more, than it is more of an opportunity, which means you should have this world class medical device company on your watch list.

UPDATE: closing price $274.75 ,-$13.90 (-4.82%)

EXTENDED HOURS: $289.00, +14.25 (5.18%) on news that ISRG will replace Bear Stearns in the S&P 500.

Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the principal for design and research at an architecture & planning firm. He writes the columns Chasing Value and Serious Money. Disclosure: I own shares of ISRG.

Until a decision on XM Satellite Radio Holding (NASDAQ: XMSR)'s hoped-for merger with Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) is made, both companies are forced to proceed independent of one another. While wishing for the best, the companies must also prepare for the worst, should they lose their hope for synergy.

Part of the companies' continued day-to-day operations include visiting the earnings confessional once a quarter. XM's turn comes tomorrow after the closing bell. According to Zacks, the consensus analyst estimate stands at a per-share loss of 44 cents, with the high end at a 40-cent loss and the low end at a 52-cent loss. This is a decline from a year-ago loss of 32 cents, which positively surprised the Street's consensus view by a healthy margin.

As the firm heads under the earnings spotlight, the shares appear to be bottoming out from a technical perspective. After tiptoeing along the 9-10 range for several months, XMSR has broken out into double-digit territory, gaining nearly 50% since mid-August. This month, the equity has taken out its 10-month and 20-month moving averages. A monthly close atop these long-term trendlines would be the first of its kind since September 2005.

Earnings season has begun to wind down, what with the March 1 deadline that many companies face having just passed. But we've seen plenty over the past week or so on the quarterly reports of some of our favorite stocks.

Blogging Stocks readers were pessimistic ahead of the release from Home Depot Inc. (NYSE:HD), 57% of you predicting in our poll that it would fall short of analysts' expectations. Only 17% thought HD would beat expectations, but 26% of you were correct that the earnings were in line with, admittedly low, expectations.

Readers were also pessimistic on Viacom Inc. (NYSE:VIA). 41% of you voted in our poll that VIA would miss expectations, though a respectable 32% predicted that it would meet analysts' expectations. But the 27% who thought it would beat expectations turned out to be correct, as the purchase of DreamWorks helped lift Viacom.

You were split on Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) ahead of its earnings release. 36% predicted earnings would be in line with expectations and 35% of you thought it would fall short. But on March 1 we saw that strong competition, weak sales, and legal entanglements were too much for Dell and it missed expectations.

Speaking of splitting your votes: XM Satellite Radio Holdings (NASDAQ:XMSR) and Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. (NYSE:SIRI), the only two real players in the satellite radio market, reported quarterly earnings just a day apart. To the casual observer, these companies may look more similar than different, which was reflected in the recent announcement of their intention to merge. Yet clearly our readers have a favorite, as 57% of predicted XM would fall short of analysts' expectations, while 61% thought Sirius would beat expectations. Your favoritism aside, XM ended up beating expectations (which only 19% of you predicted), while Sirius's earnings were in line with expectations (which 27% predicted). Still, they were more alike than different when you take into account that XM only beat expectations by a penny.

Will Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE:WMT) disappoint or surpass analyst expectations for its most recent quarter? If the past is any indication, that question will be up for grabs, but the world's largest retailer did post an impressive 2.2% same-store sales growth figure in January.

Will Wal-Mart beat, meet, or fall short of expectations on Tuesday? The analysts have Wal-Mart pegged at a slim 7.1% rise in quarterly net income, down from a 12.1% gain in the year-earlier period. With all the hubbub on Wal-Mart's most recent results having been plagued by marketing missteps, lackluster gains, and cluttered stores -- can Wal-Mart rise above it all for it's just-completed quarter?

I'll be live blogging Wal-Mart's quarterly earnings webcast right here at http://wmt.bloggingstocks.com, so stay tuned to this website this Tuesday, February 20 for all the coverage -- as it happens. The earnings will be released before the market opens (about 7:00 am Pacific Time). We'll see you as you have your morning coffee (or hot tea) about then!

Also check out some other earnings reports that we're following, and let us know what you're expecting.