CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) _ Sonic Automotive Inc. (SAH) on Thursday reported third-quarter earnings of $84.5 million.

The Charlotte, North Carolina-based company said it had net income of $1.95 per share. Earnings, adjusted to account for discontinued operations, came to $1.96 per share.

The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.86 per share.

The auto dealer posted revenue of $3.07 billion in the period.

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on SAH at https://www.zacks.com/ap/SAH

Copyright by Automated Insights, Inc. All rights reserved., source Associated Press News