TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP) on Wednesday reported fiscal third-quarter net income of $17.8 million, after reporting a loss in the same period a year earlier.

The Tulsa, Oklahoma-based company said it had profit of 16 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were 27 cents per share.

The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 5 cents per share.

The oil and gas well-drilling contractor posted revenue of $550.2 million in the period, also topping Street forecasts. Six analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $512.6 million.

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on HP at https://www.zacks.com/ap/HP

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