By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Home Depot (NYSE:HD) stock traded 1.2% higher in premarket Tuesday after the home improvement retailer beat fourth quarter sales and profit estimates, riding the strong demand for tools and materials.
Adding to the gains in the stock is the company’s decision to raise its quarterly dividend by 15%.
As more people returned to work, demand from those looking to upgrade their surroundings or furnish their new properties was expected to soften. That isn’t exactly what is happening.
While volumes did weaken, the average ticket size grew once again, almost at the pace in the third quarter.
Customer transaction volumes fell 3.4% to 402.5 million, but the average ticket size of sales rose over 12.4% and the company also generated more sales per square foot at its 2,317 stores.
Comparable sales for the fourth quarter rose over 8%, and comparable sales in the U.S. were up 7.6%.
Total sales were nearly 11% higher to near $36 billion. Net earnings for the third quarter were $3.4 billion, or $3.21 per diluted share, compared to $2.65 in the same period last year.
Home Depot is guiding for higher sales in the current financial year with diluted EPS to be in low single digits.