Kohl's Corp reported better-than-expected earnings as its strategy to ramp up exclusive lines helped it win market share but its outlook for the rest of the year, which includes the crucial holiday season, fell short of Wall Street forecasts.

The department store operator reported net income of $260 million, or 84 cents per share for its second quarter ended July 31, up 13.5 percent from $229 million, or 75 cents per share, a year earlier.

Overall sales rose 7.7 percent to $4.1 billion, while same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, rose 4.6 percent during the quarter.

Analysts had been expecting a profit of 82 cents per share on sales of $4.09 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Kohl's expects same-store sales to be up between 2 percent and 4 percent in the each of the next two quarters.

It expects earnings to be between 57 cents and 63 cents per share in the third quarter, below Wall Street forecast of 74 cents.

It expects its full-year profit to be between $3.57 and $3.70 per share. Previously the top end of that range was $3.75. The average Wall Street forecast is $3.76 per share.

(Reporting by Phil Wahba; Editing by Derek Caney)