Shares of Designer Brands climbed after the company raised its full-year outlook, saying steps it has taken to improve profitability are paying off and that back-to-school sales have been stronger than anticipated.

The stock rose 8.2% to $5.65 Thursday. Despite the gain, shares have lost roughly a fifth of their value year to date.

The DSW parent said before the bell that it is making progress against its turnaround strategy, under which the company is working to improve its assortment of shoes and accessories, become more disciplined with its sourcing, and better manage its promotions and markdowns.

Designer Brands also benefited from a roughly $20 million tariff refund during the recent quarter. "However, even excluding this benefit, we delivered gross profit expansion versus last year," Chief Executive Doug Howe said on a call with analysts.

The company's third quarter is off to a strong start, Howe said, noting that back-to-school sales have performed ahead of expectations and retail sales are slightly positive quarter-to-date.

Designer Brands now expects adjusted earnings of 47 cents to 52 cents a share for the year, up from a prior outlook of 28 cents to 38 cents a share. The company also is now projecting sales to be flat to up 1%, versus a prior range of down 1% to up 1%.

The new outlooks came as Designer Brands posted a second-quarter profit of $17.6 million, or 31 cents a share, compared with $10.5 million, or 21 cents a share, a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, quarterly earnings came out to 34 cents a share.

Revenue in the period fell 1.2% to $730.6 million, with same-store sales down 2.4%.