As always, the numbers tell a duller story than the press release. “General and sustainable growth,” proclaims management in their annual report. Not so fast, say the accounts.
Sales rose across every line — heart, brain, surgery, diabetes — in 2024, yet costs climbed just as fast. Medtronic has long tested the limits of its pricing power, and inflation devoured the feast. Nothing remained on the plate.
Still, the Minneapolis company clings to its royal habit. For the forty-seventh consecutive year, it raised the dividend. Management boasts a 30% increase over five years. Less proudly, earnings per share fell roughly 20%, from $3.50 to $2.80.
This lackluster record follows a decade of dealmaking and $18 billion—net of divestitures—poured into acquisitions. That big money bought only stability, not growth. Another $22 billion went to buybacks, which fared even worse.
Medtronic remains a dividend aristocrat, living off its title. The payout, once comfortably covered, now consumes nearly all profits. Free cash flow barely moved over the cycle. Adjusted for inflation, it shrinks. So that’s forty billion deployed over a decade to end up with less than they started with.
But there’s one figure growing briskly: stock-based compensation.