AMR Corp. said it earned $175 million, or 61 cents per share in the quarter ended Sept. 30, its sixth straight profitable quarter after losing more than $8 billion from 2001 through 2005. The company took a charge of $40 million, or 13 cents per share, for unused employee vacation expense dating to 2003.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had expected 73 cents per share. Those forecasts usually exclude one-time costs such as the vacation accrual. Analysts had slashed their forecasts last month, after AMR gave a more cautious outlook for third-quarter revenue.

The results handily beat last year's third quarter, when AMR earned $15 million, or 6 cents per share, and took a $99 million charge to write down fuel-hedging contracts.

Revenue this summer rose 1.7 percent from a year ago, to $5.95 billion, a tick below the $5.96 billion forecast by analysts.

Chairman and Chief Executive Gerard Arpey said the company had overcome record fuel prices to post its best third quarter since 2000. But he said the company needed to continue managing costs and improving profit margins.

Shares of AMR rose 98 cents or little more than 4 percent, to close at $25.10.

Even with the rally, AMR shares have fallen nearly 40 percent since January. Some shareholders are pushing the company to boost the stock by selling businesses such as the American Eagle regional commuter service — most other airlines depend on independents to feed customers from smaller cities to the big hubs.

Executives said again Wednesday that they were evaluating whether to sell Eagle or the AAdvantage frequent-flier program, but wanted to make sure that spinoffs wouldn't hurt American itself. Chief Financial Officer Thomas Horton said AAdvantage is strongly tied to American and how the airline interacts with customers.

But executives declined to set a timetable for any moves. Arpey told analysts that when AMR makes a decision on spinoffs, "you'll hear about it."

Hannes Smarason, chief executive of Iceland-based FL Group, which holds 9.1 percent of AMR stock, said the company was moving too slowly in shedding assets because Delta Air Lines Inc. is considering selling its Comair carrier and UAL Corp.'s United Airlines is thinking of selling or spinning off its frequent-flier program.

"There is a limited number of buyers for all assets, and being able to do a good deal before somebody else has value," Smarason said in an interview. AMR executives "have to stop thinking that they have all the time in the world."

Analysts said AMR's third-quarter performance was helped by reductions in American's capacity, measured by miles flown and available seats, by 2.8 percent.

Fewer seats resulted in American's average flight operating at 83.9 percent full, up 2.2 percentage points from a year earlier.

Fare increases helped push revenue per seat up 5 percent in the third quarter. The average fare rose 2.3 percent.

But American's costs kept rising, too.

Airlines speak of "unit costs," or expenses spread over available seats for sale and the miles flown. By that important industry measurement, American's costs rose 3.9 percent from a year ago.

AMR said costs rose because of the back-vacation expenses, the cost of refurbishing jet cabins, faster depreciation, food and beverages, credit card fees, and weather-related flight cancelations.

AMR expects to pay $2.27 per gallon for fuel in the fourth quarter, up from $2.165 in the third.

The company has hedged 40 percent of its fourth-quarter fuel purchases with options to buy at the equivalent of $69 a barrel — a bargain compared with current oil prices, which surged to a new record of $89 a barrel Wednesday.

AMR said high fuel costs would send American's unit costs up 4.5 percent in the fourth quarter — and 5.1 percent when American Eagle's costs are included.

Robert Barry, an analyst with Goldman Sachs, said AMR's fuel-cost projections were "highly uncertain" because of the recent spike in oil prices.

American is beginning labor contract negotiations with its three unions, and relations have been rocky. Last month, the pilots' union pulled out of monthly labor-management meetings.

On Wednesday, the Allied Pilots Association took issue with a comment by Arpey in which the CEO said the airline must invest in customer service, new planes and new routes.