HOUSTON (AP) _ Noble Energy Inc. (NBL) on Friday reported a loss of $3.96 billion in its first quarter.

On a per-share basis, the Houston-based company said it had a loss of $8.27. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were 18 cents per share.

The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 11 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 3 cents per share.

The oil and gas company posted revenue of $1.02 billion in the period, which missed Street forecasts. Seven analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $1.08 billion.

Noble shares have fallen 64% since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has fallen 11%. The stock has declined 64% in the last 12 months.

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on NBL at https://www.zacks.com/ap/NBL

Automated Insights, source Associated Press News