BOSTON (AP) _ American Tower Corp. (AMT) on Thursday reported a key measure of profitability in its third quarter. The results beat Wall Street expectations.

The real estate investment trust, based in Boston, said it had funds from operations of $1.02 billion, or $2.23 per share, in the period.

The average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for funds from operations of $2.08 per share.

Funds from operations is a closely watched measure in the REIT industry. It takes net income and adds back items such as depreciation and amortization.

The company said it had net income of $464.4 million, or $1.04 per share.

The wireless communications infrastructure company posted revenue of $2.01 billion in the period, also exceeding Street forecasts. Six analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $1.97 billion.

The company's shares have climbed slightly since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has increased 1%. The stock has risen 9% 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 AMT at https://www.zacks.com/ap/AMT

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