10/06/2009

"St. Jude Medical's run in the sun faded a bit Tuesday as the Little Canada-based manufacturer announced disappointing third-quarter results and the elimination of 40 jobs in Minnesota.

For the quarter that ended Saturday, revenue fell short of expectations due in part to a slowdown in hospital stocking of certain medical devices, the company said.

"We believe that macroeconomic factors, coupled with the continued pressure surrounding health care reform, resulted in changes in purchasing behavior by some of our hospital customers," said Dan Starks, the company's chief executive, in a statement.

"It also cast a bit of a shadow on shares of Fridley-based Medtronic and Natick, Mass.-based Boston Scientific — competitors in the market for pacemakers and implantable defibrillators.

Even with Tuesday's setback, St. Jude Medical's shares over the past three years have generated a total return of 10.5 percent, a period when Medtronic, Boston Scientific and the SP 500 stock index have posted negative returns."

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