By Evie Liu

Stock in United Natural Foods jumped as much as 30% on Tuesday after the natural and organic food company unexpectedly swung to a profit and raised its financial forecasts for the full year.

For its first fiscal quarter, ended in October, United Natural Foods reported adjusted earnings of 16 cents a share, a reversal from a loss of four cents a share in the year-earlier quarter. The consensus call among Wall Street analysts tracked by FactSet was for a loss of two cents a share.

Revenue came at $7.87 billion, up 4.2% from a year earlier. Analysts had expected $7.61 billion of revenue.

"We're encouraged by positive volume trends attributable to new business with existing customers and new customer additions," said CEO Sandy Douglas.

The company said it expects full-year sales of between $30.6 billion and $31 billion, up from a previous call for between $30.3 billion and $30.8 billion. Full-year earnings are expected to come between 40 cents and 80 cents a share, while management had told investors to expect a result between 20 cents and 80 cents.

The stock jumped as much as 30% in morning trading, hitting a 52-week high of $32.12 before falling back to $30.71 by noon. The stock has gained 88% this year as investors bet that demand for natural and organic food will keep growing even as inflation and higher interest rates limit consumers' spending power.

Write to Evie Liu at evie.liu@barrons.com

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December 10, 2024 13:11 ET (18:11 GMT)

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