Home Depot beats Street 3Q forecasts on sales boost

NEW YORK (AP) - The Home Depot Inc. reported its profit rose 12.2 percent in its fiscal third-quarter as sales gained ground, fueled partly by a continued housing market recovery. Its shares rose almost 4 percent in midday trading Tuesday.

The home-improvement retailer reported net income of $1.73 billion, or $1.35 per share. The results exceeded Wall Street expectations, with the average estimate of 14 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research for earnings of $1.32 per share.

Revenue rose 6.4 percent to $21.82 billion in the period, also topping Street forecasts. Eleven analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $21.75 billion.

Same-store sales, which are a key measure of a retailer's health, rose 5.1 percent.

The Atlanta-based company also updated its guidance. It expects 2015 sales to rise about 5.7 percent in 2015, near the high end of its previous guidance of a 5.2 percent to 6 percent boost. Meanwhile, it expects full-year earnings to be $5.36 per share.

Sales of existing homes jumped 4.7 percent in September, according to The National Association of Realtors, indicating that demand for housing remains steady. Meanwhile, housing starts rose 6.5 percent in September, according to the Commerce Department.

Home Depot shares rose $4.64, or 3.8 percent, to $125.48 in midday trading Tuesday. They had risen 15 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has stayed nearly flat. The stock has increased 23 percent in the last 12 months.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on HD at http://www.zacks.com/ap/HD

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