Ross Stores raised its outlook for the year as second-quarter sales gained on higher traffic.

The off-price retailer said Thursday it now forecasts earnings per share of $8.61 to $8.77 for the year, up from its prior outlook of $7.50 to $7.74 a share.

For the current quarter, the company expects earnings per share of $1.75 to $1.83 on same-store sales growth of 6% to 7%. Analysts polled by FactSet were looking for earnings of $1.75 a share and same-stores sales growth of 3.1%.

The company also gave guidance for the fourth quarter that topped Wall Street's expectations.

The outlook comes as Ross's profit and sales rose in the second quarter, boosted by higher traffic as it attracted new customers and won more business from its existing clientele. Chief Executive Jim Conroy attributed the results to the company's marketing initiatives and work to improve the in-store experience.

"These trends reinforce our belief that the actions we are taking are not only driving the current business performance but that we can continue to build on our early successes," he said, noting that the company's momentum ramped up as it exited the recent quarter.

Shares rose 6% to $242.80 in late trading. At the close the stock is up 27% this year.

Second-quarter profit was $851.3 million, or $2.66 a share, compared with $508 million, or $1.56 a share, a year earlier. Analysts polled by FactSet expected earnings of $1.95 a share.

Earnings for the recent quarter were boosted by 60 cents a share from tariff refunds.

Revenue rose 13% to $6.26 billion, topping analyst estimates of $6.16 billion.

Same-store sales rose 10%, compared with Wall Street's forecast for 7.7% growth.

The company also said it now expects to open 115 locations this year, up from its prior plans for 110 new stores.