St. Jude Medical Records 7% Growth In Q4 Prelim. Sales, Narrows Earnings View

(RTTNews) - Cardiovascular medical devices maker St. Jude Medical Inc. (STJ) Wednesday said it expects to report 7 percent increase in net sales on a constant currency basis for the fourth quarter to $1.447 billion from $1.439 billion last year.

On average, 25 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report net sales of $$1.48 billion. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

CRM sales declined 10 percent to approximately $580 million, on a constant currency basis from the prior year. Thoratec products sales for the quarter was around $136 million. Atrial fibrillation product sales increased around $276 million from last year. The company noted that net sales for the fourth quarter to the combined net sales of both St. Jude Medical and Thoratec in the prior year and adjusting for foreign currency, comparable constant currency sales decreased 1 percent.

Looking ahead, the company expects fourth quarter earnings to be in a range of $1.01 to $1.02 per share. Earlier the projection was in a range of $1 to $1.02. On an adjusted basis, net earnings per share is expected to be $1.01 to $1.02.

Street is currently looking for fourth quarter earnings of $1.01 per share.