TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) _ First Solar Inc. (FSLR) on Thursday reported second-quarter earnings of $82.4 million.

The Tempe, Arizona-based company said it had net income of 77 cents per share.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 12 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 60 cents per share.

The largest U.S. solar company posted revenue of $629.2 million in the period, which did not meet Street forecasts. Twelve analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $632 million.

First Solar expects full-year earnings to be $4 to $4.60 per share, with revenue in the range of $2.88 billion to $3.1 billion.

First Solar shares have decreased 15% since the beginning of the year, while the S&P's 500 index has climbed 18%. In the final minutes of trading on Thursday, shares hit $83.74, a rise of 39% 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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