The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD) reported higher-than-expected quarterly results and raised its sales and profit outlook for the year on Tuesday as the world's largest home improvement chain benefited from the construction aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
For the quarter, Home Depot reported a profit of 83 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier profit of 68 cents a share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected Home Depot to post an 18 percent increase in per-share earnings and a 5 percent rise in revenue.
Home Depot's sales topped analysts’ estimates, and sales rose 7.4 percent to $19.1 billion in the first quarter. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had most recently forecast earnings of 77 cents on revenue of $18 billion.
Home Depot reported a profit of $1.22 billion for the quarter ended May 5, up from a year-ago profit of $1.04 billion.
In addition, the company raised its view for the year to earnings of $3.52 a share on revenue growth of 2.8 percent from its prior view of earnings of $3.37 a share on revenue growth of 2 percent.
Sales at Home Depot stores open at least a year rose 4.3 percent, though analysts expect same-store sales at rival Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW) to be weaker than Home Depot's.
Lowe’s, which is the world’s second largest home improvement retailer, is set to report its first-quarter results on Wednesday.
Analysts forecast the retailer to report earnings of 51 cents per share, up from 44 cents a year ago.
Lowe's is forecast to report 15 percent growth in earnings per share and a 2 percent increase in revenue. Revenue is expected to be $13.45 billion for the quarter, 2.3 percent higher than the year-earlier total of $13.15 billion.