Shares of Dole advanced after the company's fourth-quarter profit popped up and its adjusted earnings were twice as high as analysts had been expecting.

The stock was up 3.4% at $11.50 in premarket trading. Shares had fallen 9.5% year-to-date when the market closed Wednesday. The Irish-American agricultural company posted a profit of $22.3 million, or 23 cents a share, compared with $6.8 million, or 7 cents a share, in the same quarter a year ago.

Stripping out one-time items, adjusted earnings were 16 cents a share. Analysts polled by FactSet had been expecting 8 cents a share. Sales ticked up to $2.07 billion from $2.04 billion in the year-ago quarter, below analyst forecasts for $2.15 billion, according to FactSet.

Revenue from its fresh fruit segment rose 1.2%, thanks to higher volumes of bananas, higher banana prices in Europe and higher pineapple prices worldwide, offsetting lower banana prices in North America and lower global volumes of pineapples.

Dole's diversified fresh produce in the EMEA region--Europe, the Middle East and Africa--rose as well on "inflation-justified" price increases across the segment, along with positive impacts from foreign currency translation, along with acquisitions and divestitures, the company said.

The top line of its diversified fresh produce business for the Americas and the rest of the world declined nearly 15% on lower cherry volumes, due to seasonal timing differences, and broad challenges in the berry category for North America.