Medtronic, Inc. Wants to Trim a Quarter of Costs on Top of $1 Billion Already Cut

In an earnings call last week, Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) CEO Omar Ishrak announced he was challenging the medical device maker to cut 25 percent of its costs — up to $1.3 billion — from everything from logistics to sales over the next five years. This comes as the company wraps up the final year of a cost-reduction plan that CFO Gary Ellis claims shaved $1 billion in expenses over the last five years. But that’s just the starting point, Ishrak said. The company is working on programs to cut costs long-term so it can maintain profit margins as it penetrates emerging markets that require lower-priced products.