BOSTON (AP) _ Boston Properties Inc. (BXP) on Tuesday reported a key measure of profitability in its first quarter. The results beat Wall Street expectations.

The real estate investment trust, based in Boston, said it had funds from operations of $243.8 million, or $1.56 per share, in the period.

The average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for funds from operations of $1.55 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 $91.6 million, or 59 cents per share.

The real estate investment trust posted revenue of $713.7 million in the period. Its adjusted revenue was $685.8 million, also beating Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $658.6 million.

The company's shares have climbed 14% since the beginning of the year, while the S&P's 500 index has risen 11%. In the final minutes of trading on Tuesday, shares hit $108.10, a climb of 15% 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 BXP at https://www.zacks.com/ap/BXP

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