PURCHASE, N.Y. (AP) _ PepsiCo Inc. (PEP) on Thursday reported fourth-quarter net income of $1.77 billion.

On a per-share basis, the Purchase, New York-based company said it had net income of $1.26. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs and restructuring costs, came to $1.45 per share.

The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.43 per share.

The food and beverage company posted revenue of $20.64 billion in the period, which also beat Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $20.38 billion.

PepsiCo expects full-year earnings to be $5.88 per share.

PepsiCo shares have increased almost 7% since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has increased nearly 5%. The stock has climbed 28% 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 PEP at https://www.zacks.com/ap/PEP

Automated Insights, source Associated Press News