(Reuters) -Home Depot Inc on Tuesday reported quarterly comparable sales above Wall Street estimates on steady demand for home-improvement goods from builders and handymen.
Analysts have said demand from home-improvement professionals has been strong, even as do-it-yourself customers are reining in their spending, due to a healthy pipeline of remodeling work.
Around 40% to 45% of Home Depot’s customers are professionals, compared with just 20% to 25% for smaller rival Lowe’s Cos Inc, according to estimates from several brokerages.
Home Depot’s comparable sales rose 5.8% for the second quarter, while analysts had expected a 4.9% growth, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Net sales for the largest U.S. home improvement chain climbed 6.5% to a $43.79 billion, compared with estimates of $43.36 billion.
Higher product prices drove average spending per transaction up more than 9%, even as customer transactions at its stores dropped 3%, helping the company record its highest ever quarterly sales and earnings.
Net earnings increased to $5.17 billion, or $5.05 per share, for the quarter ended July 31, from $4.81 billion, or $4.53 per share, a year earlier. Analysts were expecting $4.94 per share.
Home Depot’s shares fell 1.5% to $310 in premarket trading as it maintained its outlook for fiscal 2022.
(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam and Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
