ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) _ AvalonBay Communities Inc. (AVB) on Wednesday reported a key measure of profitability in its third quarter. The results surpassed Wall Street expectations.

The Arlington, Virginia-based real estate investment trust said it had funds from operations of $287.3 million, or $2.06 per share, in the period.

The average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for funds from operations of $1.99 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 $78.9 million, or 56 cents per share.

The apartment building owner posted revenue of $580.8 million in the period, which also topped Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $570.6 million.

For the current quarter ending in December, AvalonBay expects its per-share funds from operations to range from $2.19 to $2.29.

The company expects full-year funds from operations in the range of $8.18 to $8.28 per share.

The company's shares have increased 47% since the beginning of the year, while the S&P's 500 index has climbed 21%. In the final minutes of trading on Wednesday, shares hit $236.63, a climb of 69% 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 AVB at https://www.zacks.com/ap/AVB

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