US home-improvement retailer The Home Depot reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings Tuesday and raised its full-year outlook thanks to the US housing market recovery.
For the fiscal first-quarter ended May 5, earnings surged 18.5 percent from a year earlier to $1.2 billion, the company said in a statement.
Adjusted earnings per share of 83 cents came in well above the 77 cents expected by analysts.
Revenue increased 7.4 percent to $19.1 billion, topping Wall Street estimates of $18.68.
“In the first quarter, we saw less favorable weather compared to last year, but we continue to see benefit from a recovering housing market that drove a stronger-than-expected start to the year for our business,” Frank Blake, chairman and chief executive, said.
The world’s largest home-improvement retailer said that comparable store sales for the first quarter were up 4.3 percent, and in the United States alone they were up 4.8 percent.
Home Depot, which has 2,257 retail stores in the US, Canada and Mexico, raised its earnings outlook for the 2013 full fiscal year.
It forecast adjusted earnings per share of $3.52 and sales growth of 2.8 percent, compared with prior guidance of $3.37 earnings per share and a 2.0 percent sales rise.
Investors welcomed the stronger-than-expected financial results, driving the Dow member’s shares up 2.6 percent in morning trade in New York.
Home Depot earnings soar on housing recovery
