Kate Spade is exploring ways to sell itself - and the stock is soaring

Kate Spade is up 11.18% at $21.87 a share as the company said it is "reviewing strategic alternatives," in a press release issued on Thursday.

The handbag and accessories maker is under pressure from New York-based hedge fund Caerus Investors, which sent its board a letter in November pushing for a sale of the company.

"We have become increasingly frustrated by management's inability to achieve profit margins comparable to industry peers," Caerus' founder, Ward Davis, and managing partner, Brian Agnew, wrote at the time. The firm thinks Kate Spade would make a good acquisition candidate for a strategic lifestyle-accessories company.

In Thursday's announced, Kate Spade's board of directors said it plans to "proceed in a timely manner" but has not set a timetable for completion of this process.

Kate Spade reported higher than expected fourth quarter profit on Thursday. Here are the numbers:

• The company earned 41 cents per share, beating analysts' average estimate of 34 cents
• Net revenue rose 9.8 % to $470.84 million. Analysts on average had expected revenue of $471.95 million.
• Adjusted EBITDA was $261 million for the full year 2016, compared to Adjusted EBITDA of $203 million for the full year 2015.

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