ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) _ Exelixis Inc. (EXEL) on Tuesday reported first-quarter profit of $48.6 million.

On a per-share basis, the Alameda, California-based company said it had net income of 15 cents.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 13 cents per share.

The drug developer posted revenue of $226.9 million in the period, also surpassing Street forecasts. Five analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $212.5 million.

Exelixis expects full-year revenue in the range of $850 million to $900 million.

Exelixis shares have increased 44% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Tuesday, shares hit $25.29, a rise of 22% 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 EXEL at https://www.zacks.com/ap/EXEL

Automated Insights, source Associated Press News