Budgets/Spending/Market Size

Atlanta -- Home Depot reported Tuesday that it recorded higher-than-expected earnings in the third quarter, boosted by tighter cost controls.

The company’s net income rose to $834 million in the quarter ended Oct. 31, compared with net income of $689 million a year earlier.

Sales rose 1.4% to $16.60 billion, slightly above Wall Street expectations of $16.59 billion. Same-store sales at Home Depot's U.S. stores rose 1.5%. It was the chain’s fourth-straight quarterly gain after three years of declines

Mooresville, N.C. -- Lowe’s Cos. reported Monday that profit for the quarter ended Oct. 29 rose 17% to $404 million, compared with net income of $344 million in the year-ago period.

The second-largest U.S. home-improvement retailer cited shrinking labor expense for the improvement.

Revenue rose 1.9% to $11.59 billion in the third quarter. Wall Street expected sales of $11.75 billion. Same-store sales edged up 0.2%.

Washington, D.C. -- A report released Monday by the Commerce Department said that retail sales beat expectations for October, climbing 1.2% and representing the biggest gain since March.

The 1.2% rise in October purchases followed a 0.7% gain in September, which also was larger than estimated.