GT Solar International, Inc. (SOLR)

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(Reuters) - Solar equipment maker GT Solar International Inc on Wednesday reported higher-than-expected quarterly earnings and said its backlog of orders had risen to record levels, lifting its share price.

Net income for the fiscal first-quarter ended July 2 was $52.1 million, or 41 cents per share, compared with $16.5 million, or 11 cents per share, a year ago.

Wall Street analysts, on average, had been expecting earnings of 31 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue rose 71 percent to $231.1 million. Analysts had been expecting revenue of $225.98 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

GT Solar, which has booked a string of contract wins this year, said its backlog at the end of the quarter was $2.3 billion.

Shares rose 4.1 percent in post-market trading to $13.60.

(Reporting by Matt Daily and Nichola Groom in Los Angeles; Editing by Bernard Orr)