MOORESVILLE, N.C. (AP) _ Lowe's Cos. (LOW) on Wednesday reported fiscal third-quarter profit of $692 million.

The Mooresville, North Carolina-based company said it had profit of 91 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted to extinguish debt and for restructuring costs, came to $1.98 per share.

The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 13 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.97 per share.

The home improvement retailer posted revenue of $22.31 billion in the period, also surpassing Street forecasts. Nine analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $21.08 billion.

For the current quarter ending in January, Lowe's expects its per-share earnings to range from $1.10 to $1.20. Analysts surveyed by Zacks had forecast adjusted earnings per share of $1.17.

Lowe's shares have risen 33% since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has increased 12%. The stock has risen 39% in the last 12 months.

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

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