Medtronic quarterly profits more than double

Medtronic's second quarter profits more than doubled — and the company said it expects continued improvement the rest of the year and raised its fiscal guidance.

Medtronic CEO Geoff Martha said that many of the challenges during the pandemic — supply-chain issues and a decline in medical procedures — have been mitigated and that the med-tech market is stabilizing.

At the same time, the company's research and development efforts have further driven growth. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved seven new devices, including the MiniMed 780G insulin pump, so far this year.

Those products — and more in the pipeline — will continue to drive increased sales, Martha said as he highlighted the list.

On Friday, the FDA approved Medtronic's Symplicity Spyral, a renal denervation system to treat hypertension. It was a long road for approval between early trials that were not as promising as expected. As late as August, an FDA advisory panel expressed concerns about the device.

"This opens up a multibillion-dollar market opportunity for us," Martha said about the renal denervation business.

Martha called the Aurora EV-ICD, a new implantable defibrillator approved in October, "a game changer."

Martha also pointed to Evolut, a transcatheter aortic valve implantation system approved in Europe in October, as another bright spot for sales growth.

The device pipeline should help the company's top line, said Robbie Marcus, an analyst from J.P. Morgan.

"Organic sales growth should be supported by momentum from new and ongoing product launches," wrote Marcus in response to a conference call Tuesday morning after Medtronic released its financial results for August, September and October.

Medtronic, headquartered in Ireland but run from Fridley, reported net income of $911 million, or 68 cents a share, for the quarter, up from $435 million, or 32 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Income adjusted for charges, including expenses of discontinued businesses, was $1.25 a share, down a bit but topping Wall Street expectations.

Medtronic's overall sales were up 5.3% to $8 billion with solid gains in all of its business lines.

Investors responded by boosting the company's stock 4.6% on Tuesday.

Medtronic has been tightening operations throughout the year, including an undisclosed number of layoffs. That, along with the across-the-board revenue gains, produced the results.

"This was a better-than-expected quarter for Medtronic," wrote Marcus in his initial assessment of the numbers.

Global diabetes sales were up 9.7% but were down 4.8% in the U.S. Chief Financial Officer Karen Parkhill said that the company sees its domestic diabetes business making a "return to growth" in the second half of its fiscal year.

The company now expects organic revenue growth of 4.75% for the year, up from 4.5%.

In the analyst call, Martha fielded a question about whether the company is pursuing any large acquisitions. He said Medtronic instead will concentrate more on its new product pipeline to drive growth.

John Boylan, an analyst with Edward Jones, in a research note said the company's new offerings are strong.

But they aren't in a category of their own.

Earlier this month, the FDA approved another renal denervation system made by ReCor Medical. Previously there had been no renal denervation devices approved in the U.S. Now Medtronic and ReCor will compete in a new market.

Medtronic said that it plans to immediately commercialize Symplicity Spyral. But that won't produce an overnight windfall.

"Since RDN is a new procedure, it currently lacks reimbursement. As a result, while RDN has potential to become a multi-billion dollar market, we expect this to take time," wrote Mike Matson, an analyst with Boston-based Needham & Co., on Monday.