ATLANTA: A boost from the gradually recovering housing market helped boost Home Depot’s net income in its fiscal third quarter.
For the period ended Oct. 28, Home Depot Inc. reported Tuesday it had net income of $947 million, or 63 cents per share. That’s up from $934 billion, or 60 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding a charge for closing some stores in China, earnings were 74 cents per share.
That topped the 70 cents per share that analysts surveyed by FactSet predicted.
Revenue rose more than 4 percent to $18.13 billion. Wall Street expected $17.92 billion.
Last week a measure of U.S. home prices reported by real estate data provider CoreLogic climbed the most in six years. And low interest rates are making it attractive for those who can afford purchases.
New home sales jumped last month to the highest annual pace in the past 2½ years. And while sales of previously occupied homes dipped in September, they have risen steadily in the past year.
Home Depot said the slowly recovering housing market is reflected in results, although credit availability remains an issue.
The company signaled a “stronger tone” on the housing market than in prior quarters, said NBG Productions analyst Brian S. Sozzi, who called the remarks encouraging.
For the year, Home Depot now expects net income of $2.92 per share, or $3.03 excluding the costs of closing stores in China.
It anticipates revenue will climb 5.2 percent. Based on 2011’s revenue of $70.4 billion, this implies $74.06 billion.