Monsanto Cultivates Upside

Sales and earnings jumped in Monsanto's(MON Quote) third quarter, with both coming in ahead of estimates.

Monsanto earned $334 million, or $1.21 a share, in the quarter, compared with $47 million, or 17 cents a share, a year ago. Total sales were $2.35 billion in the latest quarter, up from $2.04 billion a year ago. On average, analysts were expecting earnings of $1.20 a share in the latest quarter on sales of $2.23 billion.

"Key drivers for the quarter were increased seeds and traits revenues in the United States, primarily driven by higher revenues from the company's soybean business, and greater farmer adoption of the company's corn products," Monsanto said. ...