SUNNYVALE, Calif. (AP) _ NetApp Inc. (NTAP) on Wednesday reported fiscal third-quarter profit of $277 million.

The Sunnyvale, California-based company said it had profit of $1.21 per share. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came to $1.16 per share.

The results fell short of Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.19 per share.

The data storage company posted revenue of $1.4 billion in the period, which also did not meet Street forecasts. Six analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $1.46 billion.

For the current quarter ending in April, NetApp expects its per-share earnings to range from $1.28 to $1.36. Analysts surveyed by Zacks had forecast adjusted earnings per share of $1.40.

The company said it expects revenue in the range of $1.46 billion to $1.61 billion for the fiscal fourth quarter. Analysts surveyed by Zacks had expected revenue of $1.58 billion.

NetApp shares have dropped 2% since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has increased nearly 5%. In the final minutes of trading on Wednesday, shares hit $60.93, a drop of slightly more than 9% 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 NTAP at https://www.zacks.com/ap/NTAP

Automated Insights, source Associated Press News