St. Jude Medical (STJ) Misses Q3 Earnings, Withdraws View

St. Jude Medical Inc. (NYSE:STJ) reported adjusted earnings of 99 cents per share which came in below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.01, but increased 2.1% on a year-over-year basis.

St. Jude is set to be acquired by Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) . The company’s investors will receive $46.75 per share in cash and 0.8708 shares of Abbott common stock. This represents a total transaction equity value of $25 billion. Due to the planned merger, St. Jude withdrew its financial guidance for fiscal 2016.
Revenue Details

Total sales increased 11.9% year over year at constant currency (cc) to $1,499 million and were in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. International sales increased 13% at cc to $716 million, while U.S. sales grew 11% to $783 million.

Atrial Fibrillation (AF) sales increased 14% year over year at cc to $316 million, driven by the strong adoption of FlexAbility and TactiCath ablation catheters. International sales were up 17% to $181 million, while U.S. sales increased 10% to $135 million in the quarter.

Heart Failure (HF) comprises cardiac resynchronization therapy products, ventricular assist devices and CardioMEMS HF System products. Sales surged 46% at cc to $351 million, driven by higher sales from ventricular assist devices.

Neuromodulation sales jumped 17% year over year at cc to $141 million, driven by a 18% surge in U.S. sales and a 14% increase in international sales. Higher demand for the St. Jude Medical BurstDR technology, the U.S. launch of the Axium system and the introduction of the Infinity DBS system and the directional lead in Europe drove the results.

Cardiovascular sales rose 7% at cc to $313 million in the quarter. International sales climbed 9% to $189 million, while U.S. sales increased 4% to $124 million. Sales were propelled by the continued strength of the Portico Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation System in Europe. Increasing adoption of OPTIS optical coherence tomography products also gave a boost to sales.

Cardiac Rhythm Management (CRM) sales decreased 7% year over year to $378 million. U.S. sales fell 17% to $175 million while international sales increased 2% to $203 million in the reported quarter.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Currently, St. Jude Medical has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). Better-ranked stocks in the broader medical sector are AngioDynamics Inc. (NASDAQ:ANGO) and Glaukos Corporation (NYSE:GKOS) . Notably all the companies hold a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

AngioDynamics has a long-term expected earnings growth rate of 15.00%. The company boasts a solid one-year return of 37.6%.

Glaukos Corporation has a stellar one-year return of almost 57.2%. Notably, the company posted a positive surprise in the past four quarters, the average being 110.9%.

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