Medtronic Reports Strong Financial Results In Previous Quarter

DUBLIN (AP) — Medtronic reported better-than-expected financial results in the most recent quarter, as sales for its pacemakers, stents and other medical products rose.

Shares of Medtronic PLC rose less than 1 percent before the stock market opened Tuesday.

Medtronic said it also got a revenue boost from its $50 billion acquisition of surgical equipment maker Covidien. That deal closed last year.

Sales at its minimally invasive therapies group, which includes Covidien's business, rose 3 percent in the quarter from a year ago. Sales at its cardiac and vascular business rose 5 percent.

On Tuesday, Medtronic reported fourth-quarter net income of $1.1 billion, after reporting a loss of $1 million in the same period a year earlier.

The Dublin-based company said its net income amounted to 78 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for amortization costs and to extinguish debt, came to $1.27 per share.

The adjusted results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 21 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.26 per share.

Revenue rose 3.6 percent to $7.57 billion in the period, which also topped Street forecasts. Twenty-one analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $7.48 billion.

For the year, the company reported profit of $3.54 billion, or $2.48 per share. Revenue was reported as $28.83 billion.

Medtronic expects full-year earnings in the range of $4.60 to $4.70 per share. Analysts expected earnings of $4.70 per share, according to FactSet.