UPDATE 1-Monsanto lifts fiscal 2008 outlook, stock jumps

(Adds outlook details, analyst comment, stock move, dateline)

NEW YORK, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Monsanto Co (MON.N) raised its fiscal 2008 earnings outlook on Tuesday, citing better-than-expected sales and profits from both its seeds and herbicides businesses.

Shares of the biotech seed company rose 7.6 percent after it estimated adjusted earnings per share of $3.58 to $3.60, up from a prior forecast of about $3.37.

"We continue to see strong adoption of our branded seed products, growing use of our trait technologies globally and remain focused on introducing new game-changing technologies for farmers," Chief Financial Officer Terry Crews said in a statement.

Monsanto expects its seeds and genomics segment to generate more than $3.8 billion in gross profits for fiscal 2008, while its Roundup and other glyphosate-based herbicides businesses are on track for more than $1.9 billion in gross profits.

BB&T Capital Markets analyst Frank Mitsch upgraded Monsanto to "buy" from "hold," citing recent weakness in the stock, which had traded above $145 just three months ago.

Monsanto rose as high as $113.98 on Tuesday, before closing up $7.93, or 7.55 percent, at $112.97 on the New York Stock Exchange.

St Louis-based Monsanto also raised its fiscal 2008 free cash flow outlook to about $750 million, compared with a prior forecast of about $550 million.

The improved outlook is driven by higher collections from accounts receivable and customer prepayments, the company said in a statement. (Reporting by Euan Rocha, editing by Richard Chang)