Indianapolis-based Brightpoint Inc. late Wednesday reported third quarter revenue and profit that handily beat Wall Street estimates, pushing the company's shares higher in Thursday morning trading.

The wireless phone distributor said that compared with the same quarter a year earlier, revenue rose 3 percent, to $889 million, and net income declined 12 percent, to $9.8 million. Results in the prior year's quarter included millions of dollars in one-time tax benefits.

Income from continuing operations, as measured by Wall Street analysts, was $16.4 million, or 23 cents a year. That compares with $14.5 million, or 17 cents a share, in the same quarter a year earlier.

Sales were $28 million higher than Wall Street expectations, and income from continuing operations was 6-cents-a-share higher than expectations, according to a report by Ittai Kidron, an analyst with Oppenheimer & Co.

“Brightpoint delivered a strong quarter, and we believe there is still room for improvement,” Kidron said in his report.

Brightpoint handled 24.9 million units in the third quarter of 2010, an increase of 14 percent compared with the third quarter of 2009.

The company’s shares were trading late Thursday morning at $8.24, up 4.3 percent on the day.