USATyson Foods, a processor of chicken, beef and pork, posted a quarterly profit that topped analysts’ estimates amid higher revenue at its chicken and beef divisions.

Net income was $160 million, or 42 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $102 million, or 27 cents a share, a year earlier. Sales in the period, which ended Jan. 2 and was the first quarter of Tyson’s fiscal year, climbed 1.7 percent, to $6.64 billion.

Tyson said that sales volume increased 7.2 percent at its beef division and that chicken sales were helped by a 2.8 percent price increase. The company predicted prices for chicken would improve during the fiscal year, helped by cold storage inventories.

“We’re developing momentum that I believe will continue through the year and into 2011,” the chief executive, Donald Smith, said in a statement.

Company revenue will be $27.5 billion to $28 billion this fiscal year, the chief financial officer, Dennis Leatherby, said in a conference call with investors and analysts.

The income topped the 17 cents a share expected by analysts, and stock in Tyson, which is based in Springdale, Ark., rose 66 cents, or 4.7 percent, to close at $14.65.