HOUSTON (AP) _ Murphy Oil Corp. (MUR) on Thursday reported a loss of $287.4 million in its first quarter.

On a per-share basis, the Houston-based company said it had a loss of $1.87. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came to 6 cents per share.

The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for a loss of 16 cents per share.

The oil and gas producer posted revenue of $380 million in the period, which did not meet Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $461.4 million.

Murphy Oil shares have increased 53% since the beginning of the year, while the S&P's 500 index has increased 11%. The stock has increased 77% 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 MUR at https://www.zacks.com/ap/MUR

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