Abbott (NYSE:ABT) shares ticked up today ahead of the market’s open after the healthcare giant beat Wall Street’s earnings expectations despite missing its 3rd-quarter sales target.

Abbott posted profits of $966 million, or 61¢ per share, on sales of $5.37 billion for the 3 months ended Sept. 30, for a 50.3% profit slide on sales growth of 2.0% compared with Q3 2012. Analysts had expected sales of $5.77 billion.

The results were skewed by the spinout of Abbott’s branded pharmaceuticals business early this year. Profits from continuing operations were $773 million, a 128% increase compared with the same period last year. Adjusted to exclude 1-time items, earnings per share were 55¢, 3¢ ahead of expectations on The Street.

ABT shares gained 1.4% in pre-market trading on the news, rising to $34.19 apiece.

"We continued to have strong earnings performance, in spite of a supplier recall that impacted our International Nutrition business," chairman & CEO Miles White said in prepared remarks.

Abbott reiterated its earnings guidance for the rest of the year, confirming that it still expects to log adjusted EPS of $1.98-$2.04.

Sales for Abbott’s medical device business rose 3.9% during the quarter to $1.34 billion, with vascular product revenues up 2.5% to $747 million. But stent sales were down 3.0% to $384 million, with U.S. stent sales falling 6.2% to $130 million.

Sales for its diabetes unit rose 1.0% to $319 million; Abbott Medical Optics reported sales growth of 7.3%, to $276 million.