SAN FRANCISCO, May 6 (Reuters) - Shoe company Crocs Inc (CROX.O) posted a first-quarter profit above Wall Street estimates, helped by a double-digit revenue gain and better margins, and forecast better-than-expected quarterly profit.

Crocs Electro

Shares rose 1.7 percent after hours.

The company posted net income of $5.7 million, or 7 cents per share, in the first quarter ended March 31, versus a loss of $22.4 million, or 27 cents per share, a year earlier.

Analysts, on average, had been expecting earnings of 2 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue rose 24 percent to $166.9 million, from $134.9 million a year earlier, helped by double-digit sales growth in both wholesale and retail channels.

Niwot, Colorado-based Crocs is known for its colorful plastic clogs that were all the rage midway through the decade. It has been streamlining its organization, lowering inventory levels, and revamping its product designs over the past year.

"Our return to first quarter profitability underscores the resiliency of Crocs as a brand and a company," said Chief Executive John McCarvel in a statement.

Crocs' former chief executive stepped down in February after only a year at the helm.

Gross profit margins rose to 5.2 percent of sales from 3.7 percent in the year-ago period, helped by cost-cutting initiatives.

The company forecast second-quarter earnings of 18 cents to 22 cents per share on revenue of $210 million to $220 million.

Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of 17 cents per share on revenue of $212.8 million.

Shares rose to $9.75 after closing at $9.59, down 2.3 percent, on the Nasdaq. (Reporting by Martinne Geller and Alexandria Sage; editing by Carol Bishopric)