Sanderson Farms Inc. said its normalized net income for the fiscal third quarter ended July 31 amounted to $2.38 per share, compared with the S&P Capital IQ consensus estimate of $2.23 per share.

EPS climbed 5.7% year over year from $2.25.

Normalized net income, which excludes unusual gains or losses on a pre- and after-tax basis, was $52.8 million, an increase of 6.6% from $49.6 million in the year-earlier period.

The normalized profit margin rose to 7.3% from 6.7% in the year-earlier period.

Total revenue fell on an annual basis to $728.0 million from $739.9 million, and total operating expenses fell from the prior-year period to $643.1 million from $660.1 million.

Reported net income grew 7.5% year over year to $53.8 million, or $2.42 per share, from $50.0 million, or $2.27 per share.