Home Depot constructs solid first quarter

Atlanta-based The Home Depot reported first-quarter sales of $22.8 billion during what CEO Craig Menear described as a "stronger than expected start to the year."



Comp-store sales for the quarter were up 6.5% - with comps for the U.S. stores up 7.4%.



Net earnings for the three months ended May 1 were $1.8 billion, up 14.2% compared with net earnings of $1.6 billion in the same quarter last year.



"We were pleased with our stronger than expected start to the year, driven by solid execution and broad-based growth across the store," said Menear. He added that the quarter was marked by "week-to-week demand spikes caused by weather variability."



Also on Tuesday morning, the Atlanta-based retail giant raised its guidance. It now expects sales to grow 6.3% in fiscal 2016, and it expects comps to grow 4.9%.



At the end of the quarter, Home Depot operated 2,275 stores.



Other first-quarter data reported by the world's largest home improvement retailer:



• Number of customer transactions: 374.8 million, up 4.1%;

• Average ticket: $60.03, up 2.4%; and

• Sales per square foot: $376.73, up 6.5%.



The three data points above do not include results from the acquisition of Interline, completed in the third quarter of 2015.