ATLANTA (AP) — Online retailing in the U.S. propelled higher second-quarter profit at UPS above Wall Street expectations.

As the peak December shipping season approaches, UPS is standing by its forecast for full-year earnings.

Shares fell 54 cents to $111.75 shortly before the opening bell Thursday.

Second-quarter net income rose to $1.38 billion, or $1.58 per share. That beat the consensus forecast of $1.46 per share from analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research.

Revenue rose nearly 8 percent to $15.75 billion, topping the analysts' forecast of $15.48 billion.

In the key U.S. domestic package-delivery business, revenue climbed 8 percent, helped by a slight increase in revenue per package.

The Atlanta company stood by its forecast of full-year adjusted earnings between $5.80 and $6.10 per share.

United Parcel Service Inc. is gearing up for the holiday peak season, investing in hub facilities around the U.S. Last month, the company announced new surcharges for the final few weeks before Christmas.

UPS said business has picked up in Europe, where a key competitor, FedEx's TNT Express unit, was hit by a cyberattack in late June that has interfered with deliveries.

UPS officials said on a call with analysts that there could be many factors to the pickup, and added that they have invested in updating technology to protect company data.

"We obviously don't wish cyberattacks on any company," said CEO David Abney. "These things are criminal attacks, and I know that we all take them seriously."

_____

Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on UPS at https://www.zacks.com/ap/UPS

_____

Keywords: United Parcel Service, Earnings Report, Priority Earnings