Home Depot beats Street in Q3

The Home Depot on Tuesday reported sales and earnings for its third quarter that exceeded forecasts.



The world’s largest home improvement retailer saw its net income increase 14.1% to $1.97 billion, from $1.73 billion in the same quarter last year.



Net sales jumped 6.1% to $23.2 billion, compared to $21.8 billion in the same quarter last year.



Comparable-store sales in the U.S. increased 5.9%.



“We experienced balanced sales growth in the quarter driven by an increase in both ticket and transactions, and our continued focus on productivity drove double-digit earnings-per-share growth,” said Craig Menear, chairman, CEO and president, Home Depot.



Third quarter sales to the pro customer grew faster than sales to the DIY customer.



And online sales generated double-digit growth — more than 17%, representing 5.6% of Home Depot's overall sales.



At the same time, the company said it continues to expect growth in the maintenance, repair and operations segment, through its acquisition of Interline — a $1.6 billion deal that closed in August 2015.



Looking ahead, the company said it continues to expect sales for the year to finish ahead 6.3%, with cups up about 4.9%. The company raised its guidance for diluted earnings-per-share — now expecting 15.9% growth to $6.33.



At the end of the quarter, the company operated 2,276 stores, up from 2,275 from the prior quarter.