DENVER (AP) _ Cimarex Energy Co. (XEC) on Wednesday reported first-quarter net income of $128.1 million, after reporting a loss in the same period a year earlier.

The Denver-based company said it had profit of $1.25 per share. Earnings, adjusted for asset impairment costs, came to $1.98 per share.

The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 22 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.97 per share.

The oil and natural gas company posted revenue of $679.5 million in the period, also beating Street forecasts. Twenty-one analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $584.2 million.

Cimarex shares have increased 88% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Wednesday, shares hit $70.37, more than tripling 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 XEC at https://www.zacks.com/ap/XEC