NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - United Parcel Service posted improved third-quarter earnings but the results still missed forecasts on Wall Street.

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The world's largest transportation company said it earned $791 million, or 70 cents a share, in the quarter, excluding special items, up from $702 million, or 62 cents a share, a year earlier.

While that was within the company's guidance for earnings of 69 to 72 cents a share, it missed the consensus forecast of 72 cents from analysts surveyed by earnings tracker First Call.

UPS said it now sees fourth-quarter EPS of 83 to 87 cents a share, up from 70 cents a year earlier. First Call's fourth quarter forecast is for EPS of 84 cents. The company also said it expects EPS growth of 13 to 17 percent in 2005.

Revenue at the company rose nearly 8 percent to $8.95 billion, just short of the First Call forecast of $8.98 billion.