Cost cuts have helped Boston Scientific Corp. rebound from two consecutive quarterly losses, but the medical device maker’s drug-coated heart stent business continues to struggle.

The Natick, Mass.-based company said after markets closed Monday it posted net income of $322 million, or 21 cents per share, in the first quarter, compared with a profit of $120 million, or 8 cents per share, in the same period a year ago.

Net sales fell to $2.05 billion from $2.09 billion a year earlier.

The profit in the January-March period followed a loss of $458 million in last year’s fourth quarter and a $272 million loss in the third quarter _ results attributed in part to a $27 billion acquisition of Guidant Corp. in 2006 that sharply increased Boston Scientific’s debt.

The return to profitability came after Boston Scientific recently sold five businesses and announced plans in October to cut 2,300 jobs, or 8 percent of its work force.

“We continued to make good progress during the quarter, particularly in our efforts to bring expenses in line with revenues,” said Jim Tobin, Boston Scientific’s president and chief executive officer.

The latest quarter’s profit was clouded by one-time charges and tax gains from the asset sales and job cuts.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial forecast a profit of 11 cents per share, but it was unclear whether that estimate included all the one-time items that Boston Scientific counted. The biggest were a $114 million after-tax gain from asset sales, and $143 million in after-tax amortization expense. Excluding such items, Boston Scientific’s profit was $357 million, or 24 cents per share.

Boston Scientific expects to post a second-quarter profit of 14 cents to 19 cents per share _ excluding one-time items _ on sales of $1.95 billion to $2.075 billion. Analysts expected a profit of 12 cents per share on sales of $2.02 billion.

Boston Scientific released its earnings after its shares rose 38 cents, or 3 percent, to close at $13.03. In after-hours trading, the stock gained another 77 cents. Executives planned to discuss the financial results in a conference call with analysts Tuesday morning.

Sales of Boston Scientific’s drug-coated heart stents fell nearly 9 percent to $428 million in the latest quarter from $468 million.

Use of drug-coated stents to prop coronary arteries open after plaque-clearing surgery has declined amid research data questioning the devices’ safety and effectiveness compared with older bare-metal versions, although some more recent studies have called those findings into question. Safety concerns have reduced the number of stent procedures amid growing competition from new players in the drug-coated stent market, and declining prices.

Despite the U.S. regulators’ approval of Medtronic Inc.’s Endeavor stent in February, Tobin said Boston Scientific “held our (drug-coated stent) leadership positions in both the U.S. and worldwide markets.”

Sales of implanted defibrillators rose 3 percent in the latest quarter to $411 million from $398 million. That market has only recently begun to recover from safety-related recalls a few years ago.