Aug 13 (Reuters) - Tapestry beat Wall Street

estimates for quarterly profit and issued an upbeat annual

earnings forecast on Thursday, betting on resilient demand from

affluent and young shoppers for its Coach handbags.

The New York-based company, which also forecast current

quarter revenue and profit above estimates, said it expects to

buy back $1.35 billion of stock in the fiscal year.

The company has scaled back promotions, instead targeting

its marketing campaigns toward younger shoppers to help Coach

gain market share. Newer collections such as Tabby and Belted

Ergo shoulder bags have also helped drive growth at Tapestry.

In contrast, Kate Spade has continued to struggle with

sluggish sales.

Revenue from North America, its biggest region, rose 7% on a

constant currency basis, while China jumped 28% and Europe rose

19% compared with a year ago.

"The North American consumer remains resilient and

constructive, and it's a big part of our business and one of our

relative strengths," finance chief Scott Roe told Reuters.

The company expects earnings per share for the year ending

June 2027 to be in the range of $7.80 to $7.90, the midpoint of

which is above analysts' estimates of $7.84 per share, according

to data compiled by LSEG.

It also sees first-quarter revenue growth of high single

digits and profit of about $1.55 per share, beating analysts'

estimates of 5.5% growth and $1.49 per share, respectively.

The company's quarterly gross margins expanded 180 basis

points to 78.1%, helped by the sequential price hikes it took

over the past quarters.

Tapestry's fourth-quarter adjusted profit of $1.32 per share

topped estimates of $1.28 per share.

The company's quarterly sales rose 8.9% to $1.88 billion

from a year earlier, in line with analysts' estimates.

The midpoint of its annual revenue forecast of $8.4 billion

to $8.5 billion came in slightly below estimates of $8.46

billion.