United Natural Foods (UNFI) saw its stock surge 5.11% in Tuesday's trading session, following the company's better-than-expected fiscal third-quarter results and updates on its ongoing cybersecurity incident recovery efforts.

The food distributor, which is a major supplier to Amazon's Whole Foods Market, reported fiscal Q3 results that surpassed analysts' estimates. While the company refrained from updating its full-year sales and adjusted earnings outlook due to the recent cybersecurity incident, investors appeared encouraged by the progress in addressing the issue.

United Natural Foods stated it is "working toward the goal of returning to full operational capacity by June 15 or sooner" following the cyber attack. The company has teamed up with cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike to respond to the breach, indicating a proactive approach to resolving the situation. This timeline for recovery seems to have alleviated some investor concerns about the long-term impact of the incident.

The cyberattack, which was detected last week, has caused disruptions in UNFI's operations, leading to empty shelves in some Whole Foods locations and other grocery stores across the country. Despite these challenges, UNFI's CEO Sandy Douglas emphasized the company's efforts to develop workarounds to continue servicing customers where possible, and maintained ongoing communication with key clients.

While the full financial impact of the cybersecurity incident is yet to be determined, the market's positive reaction suggests confidence in UNFI's ability to manage the situation and its underlying business strength, as evidenced by the strong Q3 performance.