Programming style: should you return early if a guard condition is not satisfied?

I prefer the first style, except that I wouldn’t create a variable when there is no need for it. I’d do this:

// Style 3
public SomeType aMethod() {

  if (!guardCondition()) {
    return null;
  }

  SomeType result = new SomeType();
  doStuffToResult(result);
  doMoreStuffToResult(result);

  return result;
}