Home Depot builds on its winning streak

The world's largest home improvement chain is benefiting from Americans spending more on their homes than on their wardrobes, as Home Depot reported record sales and earnings in the second quarter.

The company said sales increased 4.3% to $24.8 billion for the Atlanta-based retail giant. Same store sales for the second quarter of fiscal 2015 were positive 4.2% -- well ahead of the consensus estimate of 3.5%. For U.S. stores, comps were positive 5.7%.

In the net earnings column, the company vaulted past the $2 billion mark for only the second time. Earnings of $2.20 billion were up from $2.05 billion in the same quarter last year.

The cloud of the security breach intruded on the sunny earnings report. The second quarter included a pretax net expense of $92 million related to its 2014 data breach. But the second quarter also included a pretax gain related to the sale of the remaining portion of the company's equity ownership in HD Supply Holdings.

"We were pleased with this quarter's results," said Craig Menear, chairman, president and CEO. "We saw balanced growth across our business resulting from strength in the core of the store, as well as the continued recovery of the U.S. housing market."

As usual, he thanked the company's employees for their effort.

Industry data show that retail sales increasingly are being driven by spending on home improvement, cars and sporting goods.

Home Depot now operates 2,270 stores and recently purchased the distributor Interline Brands. With those assets coming together, the company raised its 2015 sales growth guidance, which stands at 4.1% to 4.9%.