Sanderson Farms Inc. (SAFM) announced fiscal second-quarter earnings of $1.27 per share, topping the consensus estimate by 69 cents, primarily due to lower feed costs.

The poultry processor's sales fell 2% to $426.8 million, reflecting the impact of production cuts.

"We are cautiously optimistic as we head into the summer months and what is typically a period of better demand for chicken," said CEO Joe F. Sanderson, Jr.

The full-year average forecast has increased by 5 cents to $2.40 per share over the past month as 4 out of 9 covering analysts raised expectations.

SAFM, a Zacks #3 Rank ("Hold") stock, has advanced more than 4.6% today on extraordinarily high volume of 1.6 million, compared to average daily volume of about 242,000.

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