Macy's Inc. on Wednesday reported a higher third-quarter profit, helped by sales gains, and raised its full-year profit outlook.

Macy's reported net income of $145 million, or 36 cents a share, for the quarter ended Oct. 27, up 4.3 percent from $139 million, or 32 cents a share, a year earlier

Macy's, which also owns the upscale Bloomingdale's chain, raised its full-year profit per share outlook by 5 cents and now expects to earn between $3.35 and $3.40.

For the holiday quarter, when Macy's expects same-store sales to rise 4.2 percent, Macy's expects to earn $1.94 a share to $1.99 a share.

Third-quarter sales rose 3.8 percent to $6.08 billion. Sales at stores open at least a year, a key industry metric known as same-store sales, rose 3.7 percent.