Whirlpool Corp's quarterly profit blew past estimates on strong sales in North America, Brazil and Asia, prompting the world's largest appliance maker to raise its full-year outlook.

The maker of Maytag and KitchenAid appliances said first-quarter net income rose to $164 million, or $2.13 a share, from $68 million, or 91 cents a share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, the company earned $2.51 a share, beating the analysts' average estimate of $1.33, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Sales rose about 20 percent to $4.27 billion, while analysts expected $3.79 billion.

Sales in North America rose 7 percent to $2.3 billion, while unit shipments there rose 11 percent.

For the full year, Whirlpool sees earnings at $8 to $8.50 a share, up from its prior outlook of $6.50 to $7.00.

(Reporting by Dhanya Skariachan; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)