HOUSTON (AP) _ Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter net income of $649 million, after reporting a loss in the same period a year earlier.

The Houston-based company said it had net income of 84 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring gains, were 77 cents per share.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 55 cents per share.

The energy company posted revenue of $1.8 billion in the period, also topping Street forecasts. Six analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $1.57 billion.

For the year, the company reported net income of $946 million, or $1.20 per share, swinging to a profit in the period. Revenue was reported as $5.47 billion.

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

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