Home products buoy iRobot

BEDFORD — Robot maker iRobot Corp.’s second-quarter profit fell 8 percent but still handily beat expectations as sales of home products offset weakness in the company’s defense business.

The company raised its forecast of full-year earnings.

Shares of iRobot rose $1.71, or 8.8 percent, to $21.20 in after-hours trading. Before the results were released, the shares had dropped 24 cents to $19.49 in regular trading.

The Bedford, Mass., company’s home-robot business, which includes the Roomba vacuum cleaner and Scooba floor washer, grew 50 percent in revenue. But sales plummeted 65 percent in the defense and security line, which makes robots for surveillance, bomb disposal and other jobs. The company blamed reduced US government funding.

Net income was $7.4 million, or 26 cents per share, compared with $8 million, or 29 cents per share, a year earlier.

Analysts expected 10 cents per share, according to FactSet.

Revenue rose to $111.4 million from $108.1 million a year earlier, topping analysts’ forecast of $107.4 million.