SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) _ Intel Corp. (INTC) on Thursday reported fourth-quarter net income of $6.91 billion.

On a per-share basis, the Santa Clara, California-based company said it had net income of $1.58. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were $1.52 per share.

The results surpassed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 13 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.24 per share.

The world's largest chipmaker posted revenue of $20.21 billion in the period, also exceeding Street forecasts. Eleven analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $19.2 billion.

For the year, the company said profit was nearly unchanged at $21.05 billion. Annual earnings per share rose to $4.71 from $4.48. Revenue was reported as $71.97 billion.

For the current quarter ending in April, Intel expects its per-share earnings to be $1.30. Analysts surveyed by Zacks had forecast adjusted earnings per share of $1.05.

The company said it expects revenue in the range of $19 billion for the fiscal first quarter. Analysts surveyed by Zacks had expected revenue of $17.24 billion.

Intel expects full-year earnings to be $4.71 per share, with revenue expected to be $73.5 billion.

Intel shares have risen roughly 6% since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has climbed almost 3%. In the final minutes of trading on Thursday, shares hit $63.32, a climb of 32% 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 INTC at https://www.zacks.com/ap/INTC

Automated Insights, source Associated Press News