Home Depot tops Street on record quarterly sales, raises forecast

By Sruthi Ramakrishnan

REUTERS - Home Depot Inc's quarterly profit and comparable sales beat Street estimates as homeowners continued to invest in their homes that are appreciating in value.

The No. 1 U.S. home improvement chain also on Tuesday raised its full-year sales and profit forecasts.

Americans have been spending more on their homes as property prices are on the rise in a subdued U.S. housing market, which is facing a supply crunch.

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas, which tracks residential real estate prices, rose 5.7 percent in May on a year-over-year basis.

U.S. home prices are set to increase at a robust pace over the next few years, mainly due to a chronic shortage of houses and steady demand, a Reuters poll showed in May.

Home Depot had previously called out price appreciation as one of the primary motivators for people to invest in their homes.

The retailer on Tuesday said it now expects full-year sales to grow 5.3 percent, comparable sales to rise 5.5 percent and earnings of $7.29 per share for the year ending January.

It had previously forecast sales to grow 4.6 percent, comparable sales to rise 4.6 percent and earnings of $7.15 per share.

The number of customer transactions was up 2.7 percent in the second quarter ended July 30, while the average ticket value rose 3.6 percent to $63.05.

"We also believe an extended Spring season was positive for Home Depot's outdoor business in 2Q, including outdoor garden," BTIG Research analyst Alan Rifkin said in a pre-earnings note.

Sales at stores open for more than a year rose 6.3 percent, above the 4.9 percent growth expected by analysts polled by research firm Consensus Metrix. Comparable sales at U.S. stores increased 6.6 percent.

Net income rose to $2.67 billion, or $2.25 per share, in the quarter, from $2.44 billion, or $1.97 per share, a year earlier.

Net sales rose 6.2 percent to $28.11 billion, the highest quarterly sales in company history, Home Depot said.

Analysts on average expected earnings of $2.22 per share on revenue of $27.84 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Home Depot's shares were little changed in premarket trading on Tuesday. Up to Monday's close, the stock had risen 15 percent this year.

(Reporting by Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bengaluru; Editing by Martina D'Couto)