TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) _ First Solar Inc. (FSLR) on Tuesday reported third-quarter earnings of $155 million.

On a per-share basis, the Tempe, Arizona-based company said it had profit of $1.45.

The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 60 cents per share.

The largest U.S. solar company posted revenue of $927.6 million in the period, which also topped Street forecasts. Nine analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $707.7 million.

For the current quarter ending in December, First Solar said it expects revenue in the range of $540 million to $790 million. Analysts surveyed by Zacks had expected revenue of $676.4 million.

The company expects full-year earnings to be $3.65 to $4.15 per share, with revenue ranging from $2.6 billion to $2.9 billion.

First Solar shares have risen 47% since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has climbed nearly 5%. In the final minutes of trading on Tuesday, shares hit $82.39, a climb of 55% 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 FSLR at https://www.zacks.com/ap/FSLR

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