Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) shares are down a tick this morning after the medical device bellwether reported a 28% surge in 4th-quarter profits on its way to beating The Street’s earnings-per-share forecast by a penny.*
The Fridley, Minn-based company posted profits of $991.0 million, or 95¢ per share, on sales of $4.30 billion during the 3 months ended April 27. Adjusted to exclude 1-time items, EPS reached 99¢, a penny above analysts’ expectations.
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Medtronic logged fiscal 2012 profits of $3.62 billion, or $3.41 per share, on sales of $16.18 billion, representing a bottom-line gain of 16.8% and a 4.4% revenue boost. Full-year adjusted EPS were $3.46, 2¢ above expectations on The Street.
"Our growth was broad-based across our businesses and geographies, including strong U.S. launches of the Resolute Integrity drug-eluting stent and RestoreSensor spinal cord stimulator and strong growth in emerging markets. As we continue to focus on innovation, globalization, and execution, I see many opportunities for improved growth," chairman & CEO Omar Ishrak said in prepared remarks. "We are beginning to gain momentum worldwide and are optimistic about our ability to improve long-term growth as we expand globally and identify new opportunities to deliver economic value to the changing health care system."
Medtronic said it expects to post FY2013 sales growth of between 2% and 4% on a constant-currency basis, with diluted EPS of $3.62-$3.70, "which implies EPS growth of 5% to 7%," according to a press release.
The news sent MDT shares up 0.7% to a $37.97 open today, compared with yesterday’s close of $37.70, but shares had fallen to $37.25 apiece as of about 11:45 this morning, down 1.2%.
*Correction, May 22, 2012: Due to a reporter’s error, this article originally mis-stated the extent of MDT’s share price gain between close of market May 21 and the market’s open today. Return to the corrected sentence.
