Before the market opened, The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) Q1 earnings that failed to impress many investors. While the housing market may be improving, these gains were offset by terrible weather that slowed the home improvement retailer. The company reported a profit of $1.00 per share with while up 12.5% year-over-for the same quarter from $0.83, there was a twist.
The reported earnings of 1.00 per share included a $0.04 benefit to earnings related to the sale of HD Supply. When this one-time benefit is excluded, its earnings of $0.96 per share failed to reach analysts’ predictions of $0.99. Revenue climbed a mere 2.9% to 19.7 billion for the quarter with Wall Street looking for revenues of $19.9 billion for the period.
Home Depot: Weather slows sales
“The first quarter was affected by a slow start to the spring selling season. But we had solid results in non-weather affected markets and expect our sales for the year to grow in line with the guidance we previously provided,” said Frank Blake, The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)’s chairman and chief executive.
For stores open at least a year in all 50 states and Washington D.C., sales increased 3.3%. When you factor in stores in Puerto Rico, Guam, Mexico, and 10 Canadian provinces the metric rose by just 2.6%.
The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) also increased its full-year earnings forecast from $4.38 to $4.42.
That guidance calls for fiscal 2014 sales to grow 4.8% from a year earlier, 17.6% higher than the prior fiscal year and inclusive of $3.75 billion in share repurchases intended for the balance of 2014.
“The first quarter was impacted by a slow start to the spring selling season,” Chairman and CEO Frank Blake said in Home Depot’s earnings release. “But we had solid results in non-weather impact markets and expect our sales for the year to grow in line with the guidance we previously provided.”
Today’s trading
Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) fell 1.3% Tuesday morning in early trading but have subsequently rebounded. Home Depot is presently trading (10:23AM EDT) at $77.99 up $1.49 for a gain of 1.12%.
Rival Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) was also down 1.1% in pre-market trading but joined The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) in rebounding. Both companies are down about 7% for 2014 with Lowe’s reporting its first quarter earnings tomorrow.
