General Mills Inc. (GIS) hiked its guidance for its fiscal year, but that forecast and the cereal maker's fiscal third-quarter profit missed Wall Street's expectations as its foodservice business was hurt by weaker consumer spending.

The stock dropped 9% to $48.68 in early trading on the earnings miss. The company's third quarter net income skidded 33% on prior-year gains and falling volumes, while the stronger dollar cut into overseas sales.

"The problem was in the volatile Bakeries and Foodservice [business], which endured weak industry conditions and a tough comparison," said Credit Suisse analyst Robert Moskow wrote in a research note to clients. General Mills has been viewed as one of the strongest performers in the food industry. Moskow said the quality of results in the recent quarter was weaker than what he had come to expect.

"We attribute this to a more austere consumer spending environment," he said.

The packaged foods giant - whose brands include Cheerios cereal, Yoplait yogurt and Progresso soup - now sees fiscal-year earnings, excluding items, of $3.87 to $3.89 a share. The increase is the third time the forecast has been raised, most recently in December to $3.83 to $3.87. The company has seen brands like Hamburger Helper do well as consumers eat more meals at home.

Meanwhile, General Mills reported net income of $288.9 million, or 85 cents a share, for the period ended Feb. 22, down from $430.1 million, or $1.23 a share, a year earlier. Excluding gains from hedging and insurance, earnings fell to 79 cents from 87 cents.

Net sales rose 3.9% to $3.54 billion, with the stronger dollar reducing growth by 3 percentage points. Volume dropped 1%.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting earnings, excluding items, of 88 cents a share on revenue of $3.54 billion.

Gross margin dropped to 36.1% from 39.8% on higher ingredients costs and strong year-earlier grain-merchandising profit. Marketing costs rose 6%.

Net sales in the U.S. retail segment, by far General Mills' biggest business, rose 8.5% as profit edged up 0.7%. The baking, Pillsbury and Big G cereal divisions led the gains. In the international segment, revenue fell 5.4% and earnings dropped 6.3% amid the stronger dollar. In constant currencies, international sales rose 10%.

The bakeries and foodservice segment continued to remain a weak spot, as sales dropped 6.2% and profit tumbled 61%. General Mills has said it doesn't expect profit in that business to grow for the fiscal year.

The company hasn't seen much benefit from the fall of commodity prices from the mid-2008 highs, but Powell said Wednesday ingredient-cost inflation this quarter should be "well below" the year's estimated rate of 9%. That, plus an extra week in the quarter compared with a year earlier, "will contribute to strong segment operating profit growth" for the period.

-By Mike Barris, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5658; mike.barris@dowjones.com