The Driving Force Behind Medtronic Earnings

The company gave guidance for the remainder of its 2015 fiscal year. This outlook includes both the Medtronic and Covidien businesses, as the merger closed recently. In the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2015, the company expects constant currency revenue growth in the range of 4% to 6% on a combined pro forma basis. The consensus estimates for revenue are $7.09 billion for the fourth quarter.

Revenues from the U.S. region totaled $2.46 billion and international revenue was $1.86 billion. In terms of its segments Medtronic reported:

• Cardiac and Vascular had worldwide sales of $2.22 billion, up 10% on a constant currency basis, or 5% as reported.
• Restorative Therapies had worldwide sales of $1.65 billion, up 5% on a constant currency basis, or 2% as reported.
• Diabetes had revenue of $449 million, up 6% on a constant currency basis, or 3% as reported.

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Omar Ishrak, chairman and CEO of Medtronic, said:

Q3 was a strong quarter, with revenue growth well above our outlook range for the fiscal year and exceeding our mid-single digit baseline goal. All three legacy Medtronic groups contributed to our robust performance. Our teams are executing on meaningful product launches around the world, and our customers are responding to our differentiated healthcare solutions that seek to demonstrate both clinical and economic value.

The price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio at Medtronic is 26.08, which is less than its industry average. The price-to-book value on the stock is 3.81. The company has a market cap of around $74 billion, as well as dividend yield near 1.6%.

Medtronic announced that it had completed its acquisition of Covidien on January 26. The company noted in the report that the merger did not affect the operational results of the company’s fiscal third quarter.

Many investors believe that the Covidien merger in 2014 has been the driver for Medtronic’s recent outperformance, and they will be watching to see if that continues to be the case. Merrill Lynch included Medtronic among its top health care picks for 2015, citing the company’s relatively low-risk EPS growth outlook and potential for significant dividend growth.

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Credit Suisse added Medtronic to its top picks list last year on the potential positive synergies resulting from the merger. Oppenheimer also saw Medtronic as a potential winner should the Republican-controlled Congress manage to repeal the medical device tax in the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Shares of Medtronic closed Friday at $75.26. Following the opening bell in Tuesday’s trading, shares were up 2.6% at $77.23. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $82.28 and a 52-week trading range of $55.30 to $77.39.