** Shares of food processing company TreeHouse Foods THS.N rise as much as 22.6% to over a three-month high of $40.77

** Company posts fourth-quarter adjusted net sales of $911.4 million vs estimates of $907.7 million, per data compiled by LSEG

** Fourth-quarter volumes rose 3.8% compared to a 0.8% decline in previous quarter on strong performance in categories including pretzels, in-store bakery and cookies

** However quarterly adjusted EPS of 95 cents narrowly missed expectations of 97 cents

** THS also sees annual adjusted net sales of $3.34 billion to $3.40 billion vs estimates of $3.45 billion, and adjusted EBITDA between $345 million and $375 million vs estimates of $378.2 million

** Brokerage William Blair says volume rise in the fourth quarter is a positive trend given the slower food industry unit sales, believes forecasts have upside potential as it offers headroom to drive profitability

** One of nine brokerages rate the stock "strong buy" and eight "hold," with a median PT of $35

** THS fell 15.3% in 2024

(Reporting by Neil J Kanatt in Bengaluru)

((Neil.JKanatt@thomsonreuters.com))