Fridley-based Medtronic Buffeted by Good News and Bad

It's another day in the headlines for the world's biggest medical technology company.

Over the last news 24-hour news cycle, Fridley-based drew praise as a good investment, got a scolding for off-shore factories, and played a role in the reprimand of a University of Minnesota doctor who didn't always disclose payments from the company.

• TheStreet.com rated the company as a "buy":

"The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its growth in earnings per share, increase in net income, revenue growth, attractive valuation levels and expanding profit margins. Although no company is perfect, currently we do not see any significant weaknesses which are likely to detract from the generally positive outlook."

• The Motley Fool's analyst echoed that view, admiring Medtronic's profit margins.
• But some of those profits may be ill-gotten, according to a Bloomberg BusinessWeek, which said Medtronic is one of several companies that are

"avoiding taxes by moving those profits into shell subsidiaries in havens such as the Cayman Islands, Switzerland and the Netherlands. ... Owning its Puerto Rican assets through a Cayman shell company lets Medtronic move cash around the world without being subject to a Puerto Rican withholding tax, according to two people familiar with such structures."

• The company's practice of paying doctors earned one of those doctors criticism from his employer, the University of Minnesota Medical School, for not always disclosing the payments. Dr. David Polly told MPR News:

"I came up short in two or three instances where my 'I's' weren't perfectly dotted or 'T's' crossed. I acknowledge that and completely accept the responsibility that goes with it."