SEATTLE (AP) — SEATTLE (AP) — Alaska Air Group Inc. (ALK) on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter net income of $71 million, after reporting a loss in the same period a year earlier.

On a per-share basis, the Seattle-based company said it had profit of 55 cents. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, were 97 cents per share.

The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 47 cents per share.

The airline posted revenue of $3.53 billion in the period, also surpassing Street forecasts. Six analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $3.51 billion.

For the year, the company reported profit of $395 million, or $3.08 per share. Revenue was reported as $11.74 billion.

For the current quarter ending in March, Alaska Air expects its results to range from a loss of 70 cents per share to a loss of 50 cents per share.

The company expects full-year earnings to be $5.75 per share.

Alaska Air shares have climbed 4% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Wednesday, shares hit $67.40, a rise of 94% 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 ALK at https://www.zacks.com/ap/ALK