FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — AutoNation Inc. (AN) on Friday reported first-quarter earnings of $175.5 million.

The Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based company said it had profit of $4.45 per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to $4.68 per share.

The results surpassed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $4.35 per share.

The auto retailer posted revenue of $6.69 billion in the period, which also topped Street forecasts. Five analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $6.58 billion.

AutoNation shares have risen 2% since the beginning of the year, while the S&P's 500 index has declined almost 7%. The stock has increased roughly 9% 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 AN at https://www.zacks.com/ap/AN