Monsanto, the world's largest seed company, raised its earnings outlook for fiscal 2013 on Tuesday and delivered surprisingly strong first-quarter results, citing growth in Latin America and early U.S. spring seed sales.

Its shares rose nearly 3% after the developer of genetically engineered corn, soybeans and other crops gave analysts what they had been looking for - a much improved fiscal-year profit outlook.

Monsanto said it was aiming for $4.30 to $4.40 per share on an ongoing basis in fiscal 2013, up from its previous guidance of $4.18 to $4.32 per share. If achieved, it would mark the third straight year of ongoing earnings growth.

The guidance still fell shy of analysts' estimates, however. On average, analysts were looking for $4.43 a share for fiscal 2013 guidance, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The guidance excludes what could be 20 cents to 25 cents of earnings contribution from soybean sales in Brazil, as the company is involved in a dispute there over collection of royalties on its patented "Roundup Ready" herbicide-resistant soybeans.

Monsanto has been meeting with grower groups in Brazil to try to forge an agreement even as its legal dispute with the government over royalty collection continues. The company wants to resolve the issue before it launches a new "Intacta" soybean.

Brazil, the world's No. 2 soybean producer, is one of Monsanto's fastest-growing and most important markets after the United States.

The outlook for net earnings for the full year was $4.31 to $4.41 per share.

Monsanto said corn seed and trait sales in Latin America and in the United States were key to a total jump in sales of 21%, to $2.9 billion for the quarter. In addition to seeds, the company sells genetically determined characteristics that other firms can put into their own germ plasm.

"This first quarter came in even stronger than we initially expected," Monsanto Chairman Hugh Grant said.

The company's expansion efforts in Brazil and Argentina were paying off as new corn products garner favor with farmers, Grant said.

U.S. farmers are also helping drive strong sales of corn seed, with early orders for spring planting ahead of last year's pace, Monsanto said. The company expects U.S. acreage planted with both its leading corn and soybean products to expand this year, officials said.

Monsanto said it was expecting U.S. farmers to plant 36 million to 38 million acres with its key corn seed products, up from 27 million acres in 2012. Company officials reiterated expectations for a total of about 96 million acres planted by U.S. farmers with corn.

Monsanto said it expects U.S. farmers to plant about 39 million to 41 million acres with its Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans, up from 32 million acres in 2012. The company has said it sees total soybean planting in the United States this spring at about 76 million acres or more.

"The bottom line is our order book is strong," Grant told analysts in a conference call.

Overall, the company earned $339 million, or 63 cents a share, versus $126 million, or 23 cents a share, a year earlier.

On an ongoing basis, the company earned 62 cents a share in the first quarter that ended Nov. 30, well above the 37 cents a share expected by analysts.

Corn remained the growth driver for Monsanto. Sales of corn seeds and genetic traits rose 27% to $1.1 billion in the first quarter compared with a year earlier.

Soybean sales, conversely, fell to $231 million, down 4.5%. Sales for cotton, vegetable seeds and all other crop seeds and genetic traits were lower for the quarter.

Monsanto's sales of herbicide and other crop, lawn and garden chemicals were up nearly 31% to $1.2 billion, largely due to strong pricing and other favorable market dynamics, the company said.

Pipeline of new products

Monsanto said it has a record number of projects in its research and development pipeline and is positioned to launch a major new technology every year through the end of this decade.

The company is focusing on improving weed and insect resistance in its crops and on improving yield, including under dire conditions like the historic drought that hit U.S. crops last summer. Commercial sales of the company's new "DroughtGard" corn begin this year.

The company is moving forward on new dicamba-tolerant soybeans, as well as beans with resistance to root rot disease, and it is enhancing insect control for corn and pushing forward on a wheat with improved yield capability, officials said.

The dicamba-tolerant soybeans are seen as a critical move for Monsanto, as its core Roundup Ready crops lose their appeal due to growing weed resistance to Roundup herbicide.

The company is also deploying a "steady wave" of new vegetable products ranging from disease-resistant cucumbers to broccoli that is easier to harvest and has improved appearance on store shelves. The company hopes to launch the broccoli this year in the United Kingdom.