Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) posted profit and sales gains during its fiscal 3rd quarter this morning, eating Wall Street analysts’ earnings expectations along the way.

The Fridley, Minn.-based company, which is the world’s largest pure-play medical device company, said profits were up 5.7% on sales growth of 2.8% for the 3 months ended Jan. 25.

Medtronic reported profits of $988 million, or 97¢ per share, on sales of $4.03 billion for the quarter. Adjusted to exclude 1-time items, earnings per share were 93¢, 2¢ ahead of expectations on The Street.

"We remain committed to delivering dependable growth in a changing healthcare environment as reflected in our third quarter performance," chairman & CEO Omar Ishrak said in prepared remarks. "Several businesses and regions contributed to our steady growth this quarter, and we are focused on effectively managing headwinds and tailwinds to deliver balanced and consistent overall performance.

"We are playing a leading role in transforming global healthcare by implementing our long-term strategies of economic value and globalization," Ishrak added. "We are only at the beginning of establishing our track record, but we believe that crisp execution of both our baseline and long-term growth strategies, combined with strong and disciplined capital allocation, will enable us to create long-term dependable value in healthcare."

Medtronic reinforced its outlook for the rest of its fiscal year, saying it still expects to log sales growth of 3%-4% and EPS growth of 6%-7%, or $3.66-$3.70 per share.

MDT shares closed down 0.1% at $47.12 yesterday.