BOSTON (AP) — BOSTON (AP) — American Tower Corp. (AMT) on Tuesday reported a key measure of profitability in its first quarter. The results surpassed Wall Street expectations.

The Boston-based real estate investment trust said it had funds from operations of $1.3 billion, or $2.79 per share, in the period.

The average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for funds from operations of $2.55 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 $917.4 million, or $1.96 per share.

The wireless communications infrastructure company posted revenue of $2.83 billion in the period, also topping Street forecasts. Six analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $2.8 billion.

American Tower expects full-year funds from operations in the range of $10.30 to $10.53 per share.

The company’s shares have declined 19% since the beginning of the year, while the S&P’s 500 index has climbed slightly more than 7%. The stock has fallen 15% in the last 12 months.

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