** Shares of discount retailer Five Below FIVE.O up 2.7% at $200.85 in afternoon trading

** Co forecasts annual and Q4 sales, profit above estimates, banking on strong holiday season

** "We believe improved in-store execution and solid merchandising coupled with marketing mojo including social media are the main drivers (for demad)," says Michael Montani, analyst at Evercore ISI

** FIVE expects FY2025 net sales of $4.75 billion vs analysts' expectations of $4.65 billion, as per LSEG data

** Also expects annual adjusted income per share to be between $6.30 and $6.35 vs analysts' expectations of $5.86

** Expects Q4 net sales of $1.71 billion vs analysts' expectations of $1.62 billion

** Also sees quarterly adjusted income per share to be between $3.95 and $4.00 vs analysts' expectations of $3.86

** FIVE up ~79% in 2025

(Reporting by Sanskriti Shekhar in Bengaluru )

((Sanskriti.Shekhar@thomsonreuters.com))