Retailer Home Depot (HD) has announced second-quarter financial results that beat Wall Street expectations on both the top and bottom lines.
The Atlanta-based company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $4.65 U.S. versus $4.45 U.S. that was expected by analysts.
Revenue in the April through June period amounted to $42.92 billion U.S. compared to $42.23 billion U.S. that had been forecast.
The latest financial results marked the first time in three quarters that Home Depot beat Wall Street’s revenue expectations.
However, despite the Q2 beat, Home Depot maintained its muted guidance for the remainder of this year, saying it still expects comparable sales to decline between 2% and 5% from 2022.
Company executives said they continue to see cautious spending on the part of consumers, particularly when it comes to big ticket purchases.
Home Depot’s management team also said they are seeing demand for do-it-yourself renovation projects and contractors normalize after three years of unusually high demand.
Additionally, the retailer is grappling with a weakening housing market, inflation, and consumers’ shift to spending more on services rather than goods.
As a result, comparable sales company-wide declined by 2% in Q2, marking the third consecutive quarter of falling sales.
Total customer transactions declined by 2% compared with the year-ago period, but the average amount spent per customer at each visit to a Home Depot location was flat at $90.07 U.S.
Lastly, Home Depot announced as part of its Q2 earnings a new $15 billion U.S. share buyback program that takes effect immediately.
Home Depot’s stock has risen 5% over the last 12 months to trade at $329.95 U.S. per share.
