Wendy's topped most expectations for the first quarter as sales in restaurants open at least a year climbed higher.

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Shares surged more than 4 percent before the opening bell Wednesday and appeared headed for a 10-year high.

The hamburger chain earned $22.3 million, or 9 cents per share, for the period ended April 2. A year earlier the Dublin, Ohio, company earned $25.4 million, or 9 cents per share.

That was a penny better than what analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research expected.

Revenue fell to $285.8 million from $378.8 million, as the chain had fewer company-run restaurants. That was still better than the $279.3 million in revenue that analysts polled by Zacks predicted.

Sales at North American locations open at least a year rose 1.6 percent. The company said that the sales metric has now climbed for 17 straight quarters.

Wendy's Co. still expects full-year adjusted earnings in a range of approximately 45 cents to 47 cents per share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet are looking for earnings of 46 cents per share.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on WEN at https://www.zacks.com/ap/WEN

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Keywords: Wendy's, Earnings Report