More big numbers from Home Depot

The world’s largest home improvement retailer raised its earnings expectations as it announced first quarter sales and earnings gains that beat the Street.



Net earnings for the first quarter of fiscal 2017 were $2.0 billion, better than expected, compared with net earnings of $1.8 billion, in the same quarter last year. For the first quarter of fiscal 2017, diluted earnings per share increased 16.0% from the same period in the prior year.



Sales increased 4.9% to $23.9 billion for the first quarter. Comparable store sales increased 5.5%, as comp-store sales for U.S. stores surged 6.0%, easily beating expectations.



“We were pleased with our results as they reflected broad-based growth across our interconnected platform and all geographies,” said Craig Menear, chairman, CEO and president.



The company reaffirmed its fiscal 2017 sales growth guidance and expects sales will be up approximately 4.6% and comp sales will be up approximately 4.6% for the year. Home Depot also raised its diluted earnings-per-share growth guidance for the year and now expects diluted earnings-per-share growth after anticipated share repurchases of approximately 11.0% from fiscal 2016 to $7.15.



The number of customer transactions, average ticket and sales per square foot all increased for the Atlanta-based retailer. The number of customer transactions rose 1.6% to 380.8 million. Average ticket was $62.39, up 3.9%, and sales per square foot totaled $394.17, up 4.6%.



At the end of the first quarter, the company’s store count, including Canada and Mexico, stood at 2,281 — that’s three more stores than at the end of last year.