Monsanto tops 3Q earnings expectations, misses revenue forecasts

Monsanto Co. (MON) on Wednesday reported fiscal third-quarter profit of $1.14 billion.

On a per-share basis, the St. Louis-based company said it had profit of $2.39.

The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $2.05 per share.

The agriculture products company posted revenue of $4.58 billion in the period, missing Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $4.65 billion.

Monsanto expects full-year earnings in the range of $5.75 to $6 per share.

Monsanto shares have decreased roughly 6 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has increased 3 percent. The stock has dropped 7 percent in the last 12 months.

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This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on MON at http://www.zacks.com/ap/MON

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