SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Shoe maker Crocs Inc (CROX.O) posted a higher profit on Thursday that was a penny above Wall Street estimates, helped by a 30 percent rise in back-to-school and fall sales.

But the company's shares fell 6 percent after hours after gaining nearly 5 percent in normal trading.

Net income in the company's third quarter was $25 million, or 28 cents per share, from $22.1 million, or 25 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding a tax benefit, adjusted earnings were 25 cents per share, beating by a penny the average analyst estimate, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue rose 22 percent to $215.6 million, the company said, driven by a 16 percent gain at wholesale and a 35 percent rise in retail sales. That was ahead of the $205.8 million expected by Wall Street.

Looking ahead, Crocs expects a 21 percent gain in revenue for the fourth quarter to $165 million on earnings per share of about 2 cents per share.

Analyst had been expecting earnings of 1 cent per share on revenue of $158.4 million.

Croc shares were down 6 percent at $13.90 after closing 4.7 percent higher in regular trading on the Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Alexandria Sage; editing by Andre Grenon)