24/7 Wall St.

The WhiteWave Foods Co. (NYSE: WWAV) reported third-quarter 2012 results before markets opened this morning. The food and dairy products maker reported diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.18 on revenues of $575 million. These results compare to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimates for EPS of $0.14.

WhiteWave was spun off Dean Foods Inc. (NYSE: DF) in late October, so third-quarter results were reported on a pro forma basis as well. On that basis, and adjusted for certain items, WhiteWave posted EPS of $0.16 on sales of $581 million in the quarter, compared with pro forma EPS of $0.12 on sales of $514 in the third quarter of 2011. Dean Foods retains ownership of about 87% of WhiteWave and reports the new company’s earnings in its consolidated earnings statement.

WhiteWave’s CEO said:

WhiteWave Foods continued to build on its momentum in the third quarter, delivering strong growth across the business. We successfully completed the initial public offering of WhiteWave Foods Class A common stock and have hit the ground running.

The company’s guidance for the fourth quarter includes pro forma adjusted net sales growth in the low-double digits, with adjusted total operating income growth around 20%, and pro forma adjusted diluted EPS of $0.16 to $0.18, equal to a range of $0.58 to $0.60 for a full fiscal year.

WhiteWave’s shares are up about 2.3% at $15.97 in premarket trading this morning in a post-IPO range of $14.22 to $19.17. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analyst price target of around $17.80 before today’s results were announced.

Paul Ausick