Medtronic to announce Q4 results amidst pacemaker crisis

Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) is scheduled to report fourth-quarter 2019 financial results on Thursday, May 23, before the regular trading hours. The Dublin-based firm is expected to report earnings of $1.46 per share on revenues of $8.12 billion.

The compares with the earnings of $1.42 per share and revenues of $8.1 billon it reported in the same period last year.

MDT shares have been almost flat so far this year, fluctuating between $82 and $93. In the trailing 52 weeks, the stock has returned a lackluster 2.3% growth.

The fourth quarter results come at a time when the medical device maker is embroiled in allegations that some of its pacemakers run out of charge without giving a warning to the patients, causing medical emergencies.

Earlier this month, the US Food and Drug Administration raised an alarm on pacemaker models Azure, Astra, Percepta, Serena and Solara for pre-mature battery depletion, though a recall wasn’t ordered. Two weeks later, a similar panel in India echoed the same concerns over Medtronic devices.

The management is likely to speak in detail about the issue as they go live during the earnings conference call.  

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In Q4, investors will be looking at the growth of its cardiac and vascular group, as well as the diabetes unit, both of which are projected to drive long-term traffic for the company.

Of late, Medtronic has been trying to diversify its portfolio to offset weakness in certain areas of medical devices. The most recent move in this regard was the acquisition of Titan Spine, a company that makes titanium spine interbody implant.

This deal was announced last week.

In the last reported quarter, Medtronic topped consensus estimates on revenue and earnings for the and raised its earnings guidance for the fiscal year 2019. Shares were up 0.79% in premarket hours on Tuesday.

Worldwide revenues totaled $7.5 billion, up 2.4% from the same period last year. On an organic basis, revenues grew 4.4%. Adjusted net income rose 10% to $1.75 billion, or $1.29 per share.

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