Home Depot again revised its 2013 guidance higher following the better-than-expected results. Now the company expects revenue growth of 4.5%, up from 2.8% previously; same-store sales growth of 6%, up from 4%; and diluted EPS of $3.60 for the full year, up from $3.52. Consensus estimates called for EPS of $3.64 on revenues of $77.57 billion.
Home Depot already has repurchased $4.3 billion of its own stock so far this year and intends to buy back another $2.2 billion. The company’s guidance includes these buybacks in its calculations.
The company’s EPS guidance is a bit shy of consensus expectations, but Home Depot’s full-year earnings guidance has risen from an initial estimate of $3.37. In the first six months of the year the company’s EPS totals $2.01. The analysts’ target is easily within reach.
Home Depot’s CEO said:
The second quarter results exceeded our expectations as our business 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.
U.S. same-store sales for the quarter rose 11.4% year-over-year, and the rise for all stores was 10.7%. A calendar shift moved one week of spring sales into the first quarter, reducing second-quarter total sales by 1.2%, to 9.5% higher than in the second quarter of 2012.
The recovering housing market once again figured into Home Depot’s results. When homeowners see house prices rising. they often will choose to renovate or add-on, which is good for the company’s business. As more homes are being sold, new owners often like to do some remodeling of their own. Another plus for the company.
Shares are up about 2.7% in premarket trading, at $77.25 in a 52-week range of $55.98 to $81.56. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analyst price target of around $86.30 before today’s results were announced.
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