Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) managed to eke out an earnings beat during its fiscal 2nd quarter as profits surged on a slight sales increase.

The Fridley, Minn.-based medical device company posted profits of $902.0 million, or 89¢ per share, on sales of $4.19 billion for the 3 months ended Oct. 25. That’s a profit increase of 39.6% on 2.4% sales growth.

Adjusted to exclude 1-time items, earnings per share were 91¢, a penny ahead of consensus expectations on Wall Street.

"Our 2nd-quarter revenue growth was in line with our outlook for the year, and we are performing at or better than the market in almost every one of our business lines," chairman & CEO Omar Ishrak said in prepared remarks. "This quarter also represented another quarter where our overall organization delivered consistent, dependable growth, with strong performances in some areas offsetting challenges in other parts of our business."

Medtronic affirmed its outlook for the rest of fiscal 2014, saying it still expects to report EPS of $3.80 – $3.85 on sales growth of 3% to 4% and adjusted EPS growth of 6% to 8%.

"As we look ahead, we are on the verge of bringing a number of new therapies to market over the coming quarters," Ishrak said.  "Innovative therapies have fueled growth in our industry for decades and will remain a central element to our success. However, to realize the full potential of medical technology, we will need to continue the work we have started to expand our capabilities and offerings, to improve the value of these offerings to various healthcare system stakeholders, and to localize these offerings to individual markets around the globe, thereby transforming ourselves from being primarily a device provider today into the premier global medical technology solutions partner of tomorrow."