St. Jude Medical Lifts Q4 Outlook Above Estimates - Update

(RTTNews) - Medical equipment maker St. Jude Medical, Inc. (STJ) Monday lifted its adjusted earnings per share and revenue outlook for the fourth quarter, which came above Street analysts' estimates.

The firm sees a 4 percent rise in fourth-quarter net sales helped by encouraging market dynamics and launch of new products in each of its businesses.

For the fourth quarter ended December 28, 2013, the company now expects adjusted earnings per share to be in the range of $0.97 to $0.99, up from the prior outlook of $0.95 to $0.97 per share. Adjusted earnings in the prior year totaled $0.92 per share.

On average, 24 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the company to report earnings of $0.96 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Adjusted earnings per share for the fourth quarter excluded after-tax charges totaling about $0.55 per share, primarily related to ongoing restructuring actions and certain other corporate charges.

The company projects fourth-quarter net earnings per share to be between $0.42 and $0.44.

Announcing its preliminary revenue results for the fourth quarter, the company said it currently expects to report net sales of about $1.422 billion, compared to the earlier guidance of $1.315 billion to $1.395 billion. Analysts are looking for revenues of $1.38 billion for the fourth-quarter.

The company had posted net sales of $1.372 billion in the year-ago quarter.

On a currency neutral basis, net sales for the recent fourth quarter increased about 6 percent from the prior year.

Cardiac Rhythm Management, or CRM sales in the quarter improved 3 percent to about $705 million. Atrial Fibrillation product sales grew 5 percent, and total cardiovascular sales, which primarily include vascular and structural heart products, were up 4 percent from the preceding year.

Fourth quarter sales of neuromodulation products showed a 2 percent increase from the prior year.

Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Daniel Starks stated, "Sales improved from a decline in the first quarter of 2013 to growth at a mid-single digit rate in the fourth quarter of 2013. This broad-based improvement in sales growth can be attributed to encouraging market dynamics and the launch of new products in each of our businesses."

STJ closed Friday's regular trading at $66 on the NYSE.