July 25 (Reuters) - Home improvement firm Masco ( MAS )

on Thursday beat Wall Street expectations for second-quarter

profit, as its higher-priced products like architectural

coatings and bath hardware helped lift margins.

Shares of the Livonia, Michigan-based company were up about

5% in premarket trading.

Masco ( MAS ) has been bumping up prices of its products like

showerheads, kitchen accessories as well as paints to counter

rising costs of shipping and commodities like brass. That helped

the company expand its quarterly gross margins by 130 basis

points to 37.5%.

With consumers taking up small repair projects, sales in

Masco's ( MAS ) plumbing products segment, a major revenue contributor,

rose 2% after falling 11% last year.

On an adjusted basis, the company posted earnings per share

of $1.20 for the quarter ended June 30, ahead of analysts'

estimates of $1.18 per share, as per LSEG data.

Sales in the decorative architectural business -including

waterproofing products- fell 7%, owing to consumer push back on

big renovations.

The company posted second-quarter sales of $2.09 billion,

missing estimates of $2.10 billion.

It expects full-year earnings per share in the range of

$4.05 to $4.20, compared with its prior forecast of $4.00 to

$4.25 per share.