St. Jude Medical outlook lags Wall Street views Wed Jul 18, 2012 9:06am EDT (Reuters) - St. Jude Medical Inc reported lower quarterly sales in its key cardiac rhythm management unit on Wednesday and dialed back its outlook for the current period and full year. Shares of the world's second-largest cardiovascular device maker after Medtronic Inc fell 2.6 percent to $38.22 in trading before the market opened. Second-quarter net earnings rose to $244 million, or 78 cents per share, from $241 million, or 72 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding items, earnings were 88 cents per share. On that basis, analysts on average were expecting 87 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Sales fell to $1.41 billion from $1.45 billion, slightly weaker than the $1.43 billion that Wall Street analysts had expected. Sales of cardiac rhythm management products, which include implantable heart defibrillators, or ICDs, fell 6 percent to $746 million. Of that total, ICD sales were $459 million, down 4 percent. Sales of pacemakers were $287 million, down 9 percent. Cardiovascular sales fell 1 percent to $340 million. Sales of products used for procedures to treat atrial fibrillation were $218 million, a 5 percent increase, while neuromodulation product sales rose 2 percent to $106 million. "The worry is that their other markets -- atrial fibrillation and neuromodulation -- won't offset the weakness in CRM," said JMP Securities analyst Jose Haresco. The company said it expected third-quarter earnings per share of 80 cents to 82 cents, excluding items, while analysts were expecting 83 cents. St. Jude forecast 2012 earnings per share, excluding items, at $3.40 to $3.45, which is slightly below the average Wall Street estimate of $3.46. Reporting by Debra Sherman; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Lisa Von Ahn