Starbucks Corp., the world’s largest coffee-shop operator, said third-quarter profit rose 34 percent as customer traffic increased in the U.S.

Net income in the period ended July 3 climbed to $279.1 million, or 36 cents a share, from $207.9 million, or 27 cents, a year earlier, the Seattle-based company said today in a statement. The average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was for profit of 34 cents a share.

Chief Executive Officer Howard Schultz has sought to boost sales with single-serve beverages that customers can brew at home. This year, the company began selling Via instant-coffee packets in China and partnered with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. to make Starbucks brand capsules for Green Mountain’s Keurig brewer.

“ We continue to be on a very, very strong path to Via being a billion dollar business some years in the future,” Chief Financial Officer Troy Alstead said in a telephone interview today. Food, including petite desserts and “Bistro Boxes” also are “working very well,” he said.

Starbucks said earnings excluding some items in its fiscal 2011 will be as much as $1.51 a share, up from a previous forecast of as much as $1.48. Analysts predict $1.50.

Starbucks rose 81 cents, or 2 percent, to $40.79 at 4:46 p.m. New York time in trading after the close of the Nasdaq Stock Market. The shares had gained 24 percent this year through the close of regular trading today.