(Reuters) -Medical device maker Medtronic Plc on Tuesday beat quarterly profit estimates, helped by strong demand for its heart and diabetes devices, sending its shares up more than 2% before the opening bell.
Growth in cardiovascular, neuroscience and diabetes devices helped soften a blow to sales in China from a resurgence in COVID-19 cases, which have hit rivals such as Abbott Laboratories and Johnson & Johnson.
Sales at Medtronic’s heart devices unit, its biggest revenue driver, increased 1% to $2.77 billion, above analysts’ estimates of $2.71 billion, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
Tepid non-urgent procedure growth in some markets also partially offset some of the company’s growth, Chief Executive Officer Geoff Martha said in a statement.
Medical surgical portfolio sales decreased 7% to $2.14 billion, compared with analysts’ estimates of $2.13 billion.
Excluding items, the Dublin-based company reported a profit of $1.30 per share for the third quarter ended Jan. 27, above the average analyst estimate of $1.27 per share.
Following the beat, the company, whose financial year ends in April, also raised the low end of its 2023 profit outlook to $5.28 per share, from $5.25 it forecast in November. The top end of its forecast remains at $5.30.
(Reporting by Leroy Leo and Mariam E Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
