REDMOND, Wash. (AP) _ Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) on Tuesday reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of $16.46 billion.

The Redmond, Washington-based company said it had net income of $2.17 per share.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 13 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.90 per share.

The software maker posted revenue of $46.15 billion in the period, also surpassing Street forecasts. Ten analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $44.07 billion.

Microsoft shares have risen 29% since the beginning of the year, while the S&P's 500 index has climbed 17%. In the final minutes of trading on Tuesday, shares hit $286.23, a climb of 40% 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 MSFT at https://www.zacks.com/ap/MSFT

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