St. Jude Medical Lifts Q4 Outlook - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Medical equipment maker St. Jude Medical Inc. (STJ) said Monday it raised its fourth quarter adjusted earnings per share guidance to a range of $0.97 - $0.99, from the prior estimate of $0.95 - $0.97 per share.

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 earnings per share to be between $0.42 and $0.44.

The company expects to report net sales of approximately $1.422 billion for the fourth quarter of 2013, a 4 percent increase over net sales of $1.372 billion in the fourth quarter of 2012. On a currency neutral basis, net sales increased by approximately 6 percent from the fourth quarter of 2012. The company said in last October that it anticipated revenue to be in a range of $1.315 billion to $1.395 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the company to report earnings of $0.96 per share and revenues of $1.38 billion for the fourth-quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of St. Jude Medical Daniel J. Starks said, "At the start of 2013, we talked about our plan to accelerate sales throughout the year. St. Jude Medical delivered on that plan each quarter of 2013. 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."