WESTFORD, Mass. (AP) _ Kadant Inc. (KAI) on Tuesday reported first-quarter profit of $16.6 million.

On a per-share basis, the Westford, Massachusetts-based company said it had profit of $1.43.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.36 per share.

The equipment supplier for the papermaking and paper recycling industries posted revenue of $172.5 million in the period, also exceeding Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $169.8 million.

Kadant shares have climbed 28% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Tuesday, shares hit $180.02, more than doubling 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 KAI at https://www.zacks.com/ap/KAI

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