Tapestry beats sales estimates on demand for Kate Spade bags

(Reuters) - Tapestry Inc <TPR.N>, formerly Coach, beat Wall Street's estimates for third-quarter sales on Tuesday, helped by higher demand for its Kate Spade handbags.

The maker of Coach handbags and Stuart Weitzman footwear said it reported net income of $122.3 million (95.8 million pounds), or 42 cents per share, in the first quarter ended Sept. 29, compared with a loss of $17.7 million, or 6 cents per share, a year earlier. The company benefited from a lower tax rate in the quarter.

Net sales rose to $1.38 billion, beating the average analyst estimate of $1.36 billion.

(Reporting by Aishwarya Venugopal; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)