Archer Daniels Plows Past Views

Shares of Archer Daniels Midland(ADM Quote) climbed early Tuesday after the agricultural processor topped third-quarter earnings estimates, helped by soaring prices.

The Decatur, Ill., company reported a third-quarter profit of $441 million, or 68 cents a share, up from $403 million, or 61 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose to $12.83 billion from $9.45 billion the prior year.

The results handily beat analysts' average forecast for earnings of 59 cents a share and sales of $10.64 billion.

Sales benefited from sharply higher commodity prices, which lifted selling prices. ADM said increased selling prices accounted for about 75% of its sales increase, while the remainder was due to higher volumes, mainly in vegetable oil and wheat. ...