Home Depot benefited from a solid U.S. housing market and higher job growth, helping the home improvement retailer beat sales and profit estimates.
Fred Katayama reports.
Strong housing market boosts Home Depot sales
The strong housing market helped Home Depot post solid results in the holiday shopping quarter.
The home improvement chain said Tuesday its quarterly same-store sales rose 5.2%.
That beat analysts estimates, as did its profit.
Low mortgage rates have boosted home sales, and strong jobs growth led shoppers to spend more at Home Depot's stores.
Analysts say the marriage of the company's online and brick-and-mortar businesses is starting to pay off.
Overall sales fell slightly, but that's because last year's comparable quarter included an extra week of operations.
Sweetening today's news for shareholders: the company hiked its quarterly dividend by 10%.
Home Depot shares rose roughy 2% at the market open Tuesday, adding on to their nearly 10% gain this year.