Shares of Atlanta-based Home Depot (HD 0.94%) are mostly sitting out today's stock market rally, despite reporting Q2 earnings results this morning that came in ahead of estimates on both profits and revenues.
Home Depot earned $1.24 per diluted share in Q2 on $22.5 billion in revenue. Analysts expected the company to earn $1.20 per share on $21.7 billion in revenue. The company's results showed earnings growth of 23%, sales growth of 10%, and same-store sales growth of 11%. These results were somewhat less impressive than they appear, inasmuch as last year, Home Depot had one fewer sales weeks in its fiscal second quarter due to quirks of the calendar.
In a statement, Home Depot CEO Frank Blake described the results as exceeding his expectations, and noted that Home Depot "benefited from a rebound in our seasonal categories, continued strength in the core of the store and the recovering housing market in the U.S."
The company raised guidance for both sales and earnings. Same-store sales are now expected to rise 6% this year, total sales more than 4%, and earnings per share could be up 20% to $3.60 for the year. This last number, however, suggests the potential for Home Depot falling short of analyst estimates of $3.63 a year.
Shares of the company were mostly unchanged in midday trading, wobbling up and down a few pennies around $79 per share.
