Home Depot Inc NYSE: HD pushed the Dow up on Tuesday with the company posting profit beats in the first quarter. The company’s stock is up 1.54% in early morning trade. The leading home improvement chain in the U.S. posted sales growth of 5.5% at stores open for more than one year, beating estimates of 3.9% growth.
Comparable store sales rose 6%.
Customer transactions helped boost profits, with transactions up 1.6% on the quarter and the average ticket value up nearly $2. The average customer transaction during the first quarter of the year was $62.38. Home Depot’s sales are a bright spot in the retail industry, which has struggled as big-name stores continue to lose customers to online retailers.
Income on the quarter rose to $2.01 billion, up from $1.80 billion a year prior. Earnings per share also rose from $1.44 to $1.67. Net sales rose to $23.89 billion, up 5%. Analysts pegged the company’s net sales at $23.76 billion, with earnings of $1.62 per share.
Firming Economy Helps Home Depot Inc NYSE: HD
A firming economy, rising home values and higher wages were behind Home Depot’s growth. Improving housing data has coincided with better performance for Home Depot and rival Lowe’s (LOW). Home improvement companies perform historically better in the spring and summer months, the busiest seasons of the year for the home improvement industry.
Home Depot reaffirmed expectations of 4.6% revenue and comparable sales growth forecasts. Home Depot Inc NYSE: HD expects to continue beating analyst forecasts in 2017. Analysts state that the growth projections are conservative and that the company’s performance will remain strong in the coming quarters.
The company’s earnings forecasts for the 2017 year were revised up from $7.13 per share to $7.15 per share.
“We were pleased with our results as they reflected broad-based growth across our interconnected platform and all geographies,” said Craig Menear, Home Depot Inc NYSE: HD CEO.
Home Depot’s stock is up 18% over the trailing 12-month period and 17% since the start of the year.
Ben Myers
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