BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) _ SBA Communications Corp. (SBAC) on Monday reported a key measure of profitability in its third quarter. The results surpassed Wall Street expectations.

The Boca Raton, Florida-based real estate investment trust said it had funds from operations of $270.1 million, or $2.38 per share, in the period.

The average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for funds from operations of $2.32 per share.

Funds from operations is a closely watched measure in the REIT industry. It takes net income and adds back items such as depreciation and amortization.

The company said it had net income of $22.6 million, or 20 cents per share.

The communications tower operator, based in Boca Raton, Florida, posted revenue of $522.9 million in the period, which also topped Street forecasts. Five analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $516.8 million.

SBA Communications expects full-year funds from operations in the range of $9.27 to $9.50 per share, with revenue in the range of $2.07 billion to $2.09 billion.

The company's shares have risen 21% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Monday, shares hit $292.60, an increase of 22% 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 SBAC at https://www.zacks.com/ap/SBAC

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