HOUSTON (AP) _ Halliburton Co. (HAL) on Tuesday reported a fourth-quarter loss of $1.65 billion, after reporting a profit in the same period a year earlier.

The Houston-based company said it had a loss of $1.88 per share. Earnings, adjusted for asset impairment costs, came to 32 cents per share.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 29 cents per share.

The provider of drilling services to oil and gas operators posted revenue of $5.19 billion in the period, also topping Street forecasts. Eight analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $5.09 billion.

For the year, the company reported a loss of $1.13 billion, or $1.29 per share, swinging to a loss in the period. Revenue was reported as $22.41 billion.

Halliburton shares have declined 2% since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has increased 3%. The stock has dropped 26% 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 HAL at https://www.zacks.com/ap/HAL

Automated Insights, source Associated Press News