HOUSTON (AP) _ APA Corporation (APA) on Wednesday reported first-quarter earnings of $1.95 billion.

On a per-share basis, the Houston-based company said it had profit of $5.43. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring gains, came to $1.92 per share.

The results fell short of Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $2.08 per share.

The oil and natural gas producer posted revenue of $2.67 billion in the period, beating Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $2.55 billion.

APA shares have climbed 68% since the beginning of the year, while the S&P's 500 index has dropped nearly 10%. In the final minutes of trading on Wednesday, shares hit $45.20, more than doubling 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 APA at https://www.zacks.com/ap/APA

Copyright by Automated Insights, Inc. All rights reserved., source Associated Press News