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

The real estate investment trust, based in Boca Raton, Florida, said it had funds from operations of $286.3 million, or $2.58 per share, in the period.

The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for funds from operations of $2.45 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 a loss of $11.7 million, or 11 cents per share.

The communications tower operator, based in Boca Raton, Florida, posted revenue of $548.7 million in the period, also exceeding Street forecasts. Six analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $535.8 million.

SBA Communications expects full-year funds from operations in the range of $10.15 to $10.57 per share, with revenue in the range of $2.22 billion to $2.26 billion.

The company's shares have climbed almost 5% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Monday, shares hit $295.78, a fall of slightly more than 3% 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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