The biggest increase came from atrial fibrillation product sales, which were up 10% on a constant currency basis when compared with the first quarter a year ago.
Investors, however, may have been looking for bigger sales and earnings beats. The incremental gains the company posted allowed St. Jude to only inch up its full-year projections. The company now sees 2014 sales at $5.61 billion to $5.76 billion, up from $5.60 billion to $5.75 billion. Earnings-per-share forecasts now stand at $3.95 to $4, up from $3.94 to $3.99.
St. Jude said net income for the quarter was $249 million, or 86 cents a share, compared with $223 million, or 78 cents a share, for the same period a year ago. Sales were $1.36 billion against last year’s $1.34 billion. Adjusted earnings of 96 cents a share were a penny ahead of forecasts from analysts polled by FactSet, while sales were marginally ahead of predictions.