Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) shares peaked at a 52-week high yesterday after the world’s largest pure-play medical device company reported Wall Street-topping earnings per share for its fiscal 4th quarter and 2013.
Fridley, Minn.-based Medtronic logged Q4 profits of $969 million, or 95¢ per share, on sales of $4.56 billion during the 3 months ended April 26, for a bottom-line slide of 2.2% on top-line growth of 3.8%.
For the full year Medtronic reported profits of $3.47 billion, or $3.37 per share, on sales of $16.59 billion, representing a profit slide of 4.1% on sales growth of 2.5%.
Adjusted to exclude 1-time items, Q4 earnings per share were $1.10, 7¢ above expectations on The Street. Full-year adjusted EPS were $3.75, 6¢ above Wall Street.
That was enough to send MDT shares to a yearlong high of $53.83 apiece yesterday along the way to a $52.35 close, up 4.9%.
"These 4th-quarter results were a strong finish to a solid fiscal year, and more importantly, represented another step toward our goal of delivering consistent and dependable growth, and I am proud of the performance of our entire global team," chairman & CEO Omar Ishrak said in prepared remarks. "We continue to lead in the global medical technology marketplace, and we are making meaningful progress in globalizing our strategies and operations as well as strengthening our clinical and economic value propositions for our customers and partners."
Medtronic said it expects fiscal 2014 sales growth of 3%-4%, with diluted EPS of $3.80-$3.85 and adjusted EPS growth of 6%-8%.
Company officials also said that Medtronic is about ⅔ of the way through a restructuring program that includes layoffs for 2,000 workers worldwide, company officials said today, with about half of the job cuts coming in the U.S.
CFO Gary Ellis told analysts during a conference call that roughly ½ of the layoffs will take place in the U.S. as Medtronic consolidates its manufacturing operations, the Pioneer Press reported. The company is about ⅔ of the way through the job cuts plan and is actually adding positions in some areas, a spokeswoman told the newspaper. The cuts are aimed at paring $200 million to $225 million from Medtronic’s annual budget, Ellis said.
