Nissan's big gains still leave it behind Toyota,…

Nissan Motor, the Japan parent company, said its latest quarterly earnings were 84.3 billion Japanese yen, or about $848.1 million using Nissan's conversion rate of 99.4 yen per dollar.

That's up a hefty $301.8 million from a year earlier on strong sales in the U.S. and China, the company's main markets, and a weaker yen than a year earlier, which makes export sales more profitable.

The period was the third quarter of the Japan fiscal year, which ends March 31.

Nissan's results make it the least-profitable of Japan's three top car companies,

Nissan said net income for the nine-month period that ended Dec. 31 was $2.76 billion on revenue of $79.8 billion.

Top 5 Cheap Companies To Watch In Right Now

The strong increases were typical of Japan's big names, all benefiting from a weaker yen, and from increasing sales in key markets such as the U.S. and China.

Toyota Motor said Feb. 4 in Japan that its quarterly net was about $5.2 billion, more than five times the year-ago figure.

Honda Motor said in January that its third quarter net more than doubled, to $1.53 billion.