SOUTH JORDAN, Utah (AP) _ Merit Medical Systems Inc. (MMSI) on Wednesday reported a second-quarter loss of $19.1 million, after reporting a profit in the same period a year earlier.

The South Jordan, Utah-based company said it had a loss of 34 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs and amortization costs, came to 31 cents per share.

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

The maker of disposable medical devices posted revenue of $218.4 million in the period, also surpassing Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $193.2 million.

Merit Medical shares have climbed 50% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Wednesday, shares hit $46.69, an increase of 16% 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 MMSI at https://www.zacks.com/ap/MMSI

Automated Insights, source Associated Press News