Defibrillators

Paul, Minnesota-based company also raised its forecast for the second quarter and full year, calling for earnings per share between 42 cents and 44 cents, and $1.72 to $1.77, respectively.

Reuters Pictures Editors Choice: Best picturesfrom the last 24 hours.View Slideshow St.

Jude, whose shares advanced 5 percent to a two-month high in morning trade, said first-quarter profit rose to $145.7 million, or 41 cents per share, from $137.1 million, or 36 cents per share, a year earlier.

The analysts' average earnings forecast was 40 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates.

The medical device maker, the second-largest manufacturer of ICDs after Medtronic Inc.

(MDT.N: Quote, Profile , Research), said net sales rose 13 percent to $887 million in the quarter from $784 million a year ago, helped by foreign currency translations.

Sales of ICDs, implantable devices that monitor and correct dangerously rapid heartbeats, rose 15 percent to $302 million.

Sales of the devices have slowed industrywide in recent quarters following high-profile product recalls and deaths linked to them.

Continued...

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