WILMINGTON, Mass. (AP) _ Onto Innovation Inc. (ONTO) on Thursday reported a fourth-quarter loss of $17.8 million, after reporting a profit in the same period a year earlier.

The Wilmington, Massachusetts-based company said it had a loss of 41 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were 41 cents per share.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of three analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 39 cents per share.

The maker of semiconductor manufacturing equipment posted revenue of $120.6 million in the period.

For the year, the company reported profit of $1.9 million, or 6 cents per share. Revenue was reported as $305.9 million.

For the current quarter ending in April, Onto Innovation expects its per-share earnings to range from 23 cents to 41 cents.

Onto Innovation shares have increased 14% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Thursday, shares hit $41.51, a rise of 38% 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 ONTO at https://www.zacks.com/ap/ONTO

Automated Insights, source Associated Press News