Diamond Foods Upgraded, Shares Soar

Diamond Foods(DMND Quote) soared on Thursday, on the heels of the snack maker's upgrade on better-than-expected quarterly earnings.

Shares climbed 12% to $28.67 in afternoon trading.

On Wednesday, the company said that its third-quarter earnings had soared 144% to $2.7 million, or 16 cents per share, from $1.1 million, or 7 cents per share, in the same quarter last year. Analysts expected a profit of 14 cents.

Sales grew 11% to $111 million from $100 million.

BB&T Capital Markets analyst upgraded the company to buy from hold, as Diamond Foods also lifted its full-year guidance in the range of $1.31 to $1.36 per share from prior outlook between $1.27 to $1.34 per share.