UPDATE: Covidien Posts Upbeat FQ1 Earnings

Covidien PLC

reported a 19% drop in its fiscal first-quarter earnings. Covidien's quarterly earnings declined to $398 million, or $0.87 per share, versus $493 million, or $1.03 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding one-time items, its earnings from continuing operations climbed to $1 per share from $0.97 per share. Its sales surged 2.8% to $2.64 billion. However, analysts were estimating earnings of $0.94 per share on sales of $2.6 billion. Covidien shares closed at $66.82 yesterday.