HERSHEY, Pa. (AP) — HERSHEY, Pa. (AP) — Hershey Co. (HSY) on Thursday reported first-quarter net income of $587.2 million.

On a per-share basis, the Hershey, Pennsylvania-based company said it had a net income of $2.85. Earnings, adjusted for costs related to mergers and acquisitions and non-recurring costs, were $2.96 per share.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $2.67 per share.

The chocolate bar and candy maker posted revenue of $2.99 billion in the period, also surpassing Street forecasts. Six analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $2.9 billion.

Hershey expects full-year earnings in the range of $9.29 to $9.46 per share.