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Home Depot tops first-quarter earnings expectations.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Home Depot
’s
sales rose to the highest ever for the first quarter of the year.
The retailer exceeded earnings expectations in the quarter. Earnings per share were $4.09, up from $3.86 a year earlier. Analysts expected earnings of $3.69 a share.
“The solid performance in the quarter is even more impressive as we were comparing against last year’s historic growth and faced a slower start to spring this year,” said Ted Decker, chief executive officer.
Home Depot (ticker: HD) raised 2022 guidance for sales growth to 3% and an operating margin of about 15.4%. It expects EPS growth to be in the “mid-single digits,” it said.
First-quarter sales climbed to $38.9 billion from $37.5 billion a year earlier, a 3.8% increase. On a comparable-store basis, sales rose 2.2% worldwide and 1.7% at U.S. stores.
The stock was up