By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Home Depot stock (NYSE:HD) traded 1.2% higher in Tuesday’s premarket as demand for tools and materials remained strong in the third quarter, leading the home-improvement retailer to beat estimates.
Total sales were nearly 10% higher at $36.8 billion. Net earnings for the third quarter were $4.1 billion, or $3.92 per diluted share, compared to $3.18 in the same period last year.
Customer transaction volumes dropped 5.5% to 428 million but the average ticket size of sales rose 13% and the company also generated more sales per square foot at its 2,317 stores. Comparable sales for the third quarter rose 6%, while they were higher by 5.5% in the U.S.
The company’s stores stayed open during the pandemic last year and while it derived gains from the surge in consumption then, the retailer is still benefiting from people looking to re-do their dwellings. It is seeing new demand coming in from people who have shifted to suburban areas who are now looking to fix up the properties they have moved into.