The top U.S. home-improvement chain’s quarterly profit beat Wall Street estimates as it benefited from strong demand for gardening products and energy-efficient appliances, prompting it to boost its full-year outlook.
The news came a day after rivalLowe’s LOW 25.26 -0.81 (-3.11%) gave a disappointing profit forecast for the rest of the year, despite strong quarterly results.
Home DepotHD 35.59 0.39 (+1.11%)net income rose to $725 million, or 43 cents a share, in the first quarter ended on May 2 from $514 million, or 30 cents a share, a year earlier.
Excluding items, the profit was 45 cents a share, beating the analysts’ average forecast of 40 cents.
Sales rose 4.3 percent to $16.86 billion, exceeding Wall Street expectations of $16.37 billion.
For the full year, the company expects sales to increase about 3.5 percent, up from its prior outlook of a 2.5 percent rise.
It raised its forecast for net earnings from continuing operations to $1.88 a share from $1.79.
Shares of Home Depot closed 1.1 percent higher on Monday.
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