DURHAM, N.C. (AP) _ Cree Inc. (CREE) on Wednesday reported a loss of $184.4 million in its fiscal first quarter.

The Durham, North Carolina-based company said it had a loss of $1.68 per share. Losses, adjusted for asset impairment costs and non-recurring costs, came to 19 cents per share.

The results surpassed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for a loss of 22 cents per share.

The maker of energy-efficient lighting posted revenue of $216.6 million in the period, which also topped Street forecasts. Five analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $209.3 million.

For the current quarter ending in January, Cree expects its results to range from a loss of 27 cents per share to a loss of 23 cents per share.

The company said it expects revenue in the range of $118 million to $124 million for the fiscal second quarter. Analysts surveyed by Zacks had expected revenue of $209.3 million.

Cree shares have increased 43% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Wednesday, shares hit $66.22, a climb of 38% 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 CREE at https://www.zacks.com/ap/CREE

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