Chiron Beats Street Estimates

Chiron(CHIR Quote) posted a first-quarter profit of $38 million, or 19 cents per share, minus special items, which beat Wall Street consensus estimates by 2 cents.

First quarter earnings did fall below last year's results of $40 million, or 21 cents per share.

The Emeryville, Calif. biopharmaceutical firm said total pro-forma first quarter revenue rose 11% to $240 million, compared to $217 million in the year-ago quarter.

The company also reiterated an earlier forecast for pro-forma earnings of 85 cents per share in 2001, which is a penny below Wall Street consensus, according to Multex.com.

Chiron shares closed up 97 cents, or 2.3%, to $43.79 in Wednesday trading.