ANDOVER, Mass. (AP) _ MKS Instruments Inc. (MKSI) on Tuesday reported fourth-quarter profit of $42.7 million.

On a per-share basis, the Andover, Massachusetts-based company said it had profit of 77 cents. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were $1.20 per share.

The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.06 per share.

The maker of analysis and processing equipment for semiconductor companies posted revenue of $499.7 million in the period, which also topped Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $471.9 million.

For the year, the company reported profit of $140.4 million, or $2.55 per share. Revenue was reported as $1.9 billion.

For the current quarter ending in April, MKS Instruments expects its per-share earnings to range from $1.14 to $1.49.

The company said it expects revenue in the range of $495 million to $545 million for the fiscal first quarter.

MKS Instruments shares have increased 3% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Tuesday, shares hit $113.43, a climb of 43% 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 MKSI at https://www.zacks.com/ap/MKSI

Automated Insights, source Associated Press News