Leading cereal company Kellogg Co. (NYSE: K) said Monday that third-quarter earnings rose 9%, thanks in large part to rising international sales. In its latest reporting period, the maker of Frosted Flakes, Nutri-Grain bars, Cheez-It crackers and Keebler cookies and crackers banked $305 million, or 76 cents per share, up from year-ago results of $281 million (70 cents per share). Analysts were expecting the firm to earn 73 cents per share.

Revenue jumped 6% during the quarter to $3 billion, edging past analysts' revenue target of $2.99 billion. Net sales in North America were up 3% as consumers scooped up frozen foods and specialty items. Cereal sales were unchanged amid higher-than-normal inventories. International net sales jumped 5%, with trends especially strong in the Latin-American region.

This positive earnings surprise transpired despite a backdrop of rising wheat, corn, dairy, and fuel prices that have challenged the food industry and spurred a broad price hike. In response, K has increased its prices by 1.8% for the 12 weeks ended October 6, compared with a 3.2% year-over-year price lift as of October 6.

For the future, the company's fundamentals look strong, but not quite up to snuff with what analysts were hoping for. Looking forward, K is lifting its earnings outlook for 2007 by a penny to $2.72 to $2.75 per share, missing analysts' consensus view of $2.77 per share. For 2008, the world's largest cereal concern expects to bank between $2.92 and $2.97 per share, with both sales and operating profit growth expected to increase is the mid-single-digit range. Analysts currently expect per-share results of $3.04 per share for 2007.

In early trading, K shares have moved 3.3% lower, hitting their lowest point since early August.

Beth Gaston Moon is an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

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