Home Depot results up on strength at US stores
Georgia, USA — Home Depot’s fiscal third-quarter profit climbed as sales at its US stores strengthened amid the improvement of the housing market.
The results for the nation’s biggest home improvement company beat analysts’ estimates and the chain also lifted its full-year forecast again on Tuesday. Its shares briefly touched an all-time high.
Home improvement companies have been benefiting from record-low interest rates and rising home prices, spurring customers to spend more to renovate their homes.
For the three months ended November 3, Home Depot Inc. reported net income of US$1.35 billion, or 95 cents per share, up from US$947 million, or 63 cents per share, a year ago. The prior-year period was weighed down by a one-time charge of 11 cents per share tied to store closings in China.
Analysts expected lower earnings of 89 cents per share for the latest quarter, according to FactSet.
Revenue for the Atlanta-based company rose seven per cent to US$19.47 billion from US$18.13 billion. Wall Street predicted US$19.18 billion.
In the third quarter, the chain reported that sales at stores open at least a year, a key retail metric, rose 7.4 per cent. In the US, that figure increased 8.2 per cent.
Home Depot now foresees fiscal 2013 earnings to be up about 24 per cent to US$3.72 per share. Revenue is expected to be up approximately 5.6 per cent. The company had also increased its full-year outlook in August. It previously predicted earnings of US$3.60 per share, with revenue up about 4.5 per cent. Based on 2012’s revenue of US$74.75 billion, the new guidance implies approximately US$78.9 billion.
Analysts expect full-year earnings of US$3.70 per share on revenue of US$78.63 billion.
Shares rose US$1.67, or 2.1 per cent, to US$81.34 in morning trading after hitting an all-time high of US$82.27 earlier in the session.