Curtiss-Wright Corp. beat analyst expectations for earnings due to higher sales in the third quarter.

The Davidson-based global product manufacturing company announced earnings per share of $1.70 for the quarter, 7.6 percent higher than analyst predictions. The Zacks consensus estimate put Curtiss-Wright’s EPS at $1.58.

Curtiss-Wright reported that its net sales have grown 5 percent since the third quarter of 2017 to $595 million in the third quarter. Adjusted operating income for the firm grew to $98.3 million in the same period of time, up 6 percent from $92.4 million.

Its shares fell 42 cents to $109.45 in Wednesday trading.

Curtiss-Wright, which has a presence in commercial, industrial, defense and energy markets, gave quarterly highlights in an earnings call Wednesday morning.

“We experienced a 4 percent year-over-year increase in sales to our defense markets,” said Glenn Tynan, vice president and chief financial officer. “While sales to our commercial markets increased 5 percent.”

Down for the quarter were sales of embedded computing products in the firm’s ground defense unit.

“[Power generation’s] strong growth of 15 percent principally reflects a significant increase on the China Direct AP1000 program,” added Tynan. “As well as higher nuclear aftermarket sales, due primarily to the seasonally strong fall outage season.”

The AP1000 program is a nuclear power plant design by Westinghouse Electric Co. that Curtiss-Wright manufactures.

“Naturally, we’ve been getting questions from the investment community about the timing of the next order for Curtiss-Wright [Reactor Coolant Pumps],” said Chief Executive Officer David Adams.

“While it’s a great sign — that the first Chinese AP1000 reactors are now in commercial operation — we don’t believe it’s prudent at this time to speculate about the exact timing of our next order. We can, however, acknowledge that China’s demand for significant growth in new nuclear power plants and AP1000 in particular remains solid.”