Cal-Maine's 1Q Profits More Than Triple

Carried by higher prices and rising sales, egg producer Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM) said Monday it more than tripled its fiscal first quarter profits.

Shares of the Jackson, Miss.-based company ticked more than 1% higher in pre-market action in the wake of the results.

Cal-Maine said it earned $9.42 million, or 39 cents a share, last quarter, compared with a profit of $3.12 million, or 13 cents a share, a year earlier.

Revenue jumped 12% to $272.9 million. Gross margins expanded to 16.38% from 13.86%.

“These results reflect a strong start to our fiscal year in what is typically our most challenging quarter,” CEO Dolph Baker said in a statement.

However, Baker also said he expects the company to continue to grapple with high feed costs.

“The damage to the national corn and grain crops caused by the extreme summer drought conditions will likely keep our feed costs near record high levels in fiscal 2013,” Baker said.

Cal-Maine said its specialty egg sales continued to trend high, representing more than 16% of dozens sold and 23.5% of total shell egg sales last quarter.

Shares of Cal-Maine were recently up 1.47% to $45.60 in pre-market trading, putting them on pace to tack onto their 2012 rally of 23%.