Shares of Home Depot Inc. rose 0.7% into record territory in premarket trading Tuesday, after the home improvement retailer reported fiscal third-quarter profit, net sales and same-store sales that rose above expectations. Net income for the quarter to Oct. 31 increased to $4.13 billion, or $3.92 a share, from $3.43 billion, or $3.18 a share, in the year-ago period, to beat the FactSet consensus for earnings per share of $3.42 by a wide margin. Net sales rose 9.8% to $36.82 billion, well above the FactSet consensus of $34.95 billion. Same-store sales grew 6.1%, to beat the FactSet consensus of 2.4% growth, while U.S. same-store sales rose 5.5% to top expectations of a 2.3% rise. Cost of sales rose 9.9% to $24.26 billion, as gross margin declined to 34.1% from 34.2%. “As evidenced by our strong performance in the quarter, our team continues to do an outstanding job of operating with flexibility and agility,” said Chief Executive Craig Menear. “Ultimately, this is what has allowed us to respond to the elevated home improvement demand that has persisted.” The stock, which was on track to open above the Nov. 12 record close of $372.63, has run up 39.7% year to date through Monday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has advanced 17.9%.
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