UPDATE 3-Crocs quarter beat, strong Q3 view drive shares

* Q2 EPS $0.37 vs est $0.22

* Q2 rev $228 mln vs est $220.6 mln

* Sees Q3 above estimates

* Shares up 9 pct after-mkt (Adds conference call details, updates shares)

Aug 5 (Reuters) - Shoe company Crocs Inc (CROX.O) posted a second-quarter profit that beat Wall Street on lower costs and strong sales, especially in the Americas region, and forecast a strong third quarter, boosting shares 9 percent after market.

The company, which had lost some of its popularity in the recent past and struggled with falling sales, has been streamlining itself, lowering inventory levels and revamping product designs.

"We hope those who prematurely published our obituary a year ago will now take some time to give us our due," Chief Executive John McCarvel said on the call.

Crocs, which sells colorful plastic clogs, saw sales rise across the board in the second quarter.

The company said on a conference call with analysts that quarterly same-store sales in the United States rose 8 percent.

That, coupled with lower expenses and higher prices of its shoes, helped boost gross margin from 51.1 percent to 57.8 percent.

Selling, general, & administrative expenses fell 26 percent for the second quarter.

For the second quarter, Crocs earned $32.3 million, or 37 cents a share, compared with net loss of $30.3 million, or 36 cents a share, a year ago.

Revenue rose 31 percent to $228 million, with sales in the Americas region growing 23 percent and online sales rising 24 percent.

Analysts, on average, were expecting the company to earn 22 cents a share, on revenue of $220.6 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The Niwot, Colorado-based company said it expects to earn between 22 cents a share and 24 cents a share for the current quarter on revenue to about $205 million.

Analysts were looking at earnings of 16 cents on revenue of $190.3 million.

Crocs shares were trading at $13.70 after market. They closed at $12.58 Thursday on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Bangalore; Editing by Unnikrishnan Nair)