Home Depot Reports Earnings Gain

Home Depot reported increased earnings in the third quarter. The company?EUR??,,????'?????<

Home Depot, the largest U.S. home-improvement retailer, posted a 21 percent gain in third-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates and increased its earnings forecast for the year after curbing expenses.

Net income increased to $834 million, or 51 cents a share, in the quarter ended Oct. 31 from $689 million, or 41 cents, a year earlier, Atlanta-based Home Depot said in a statement.

Home Depot, led by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Frank Blake, improved its gross profit margin after eliminating 1,000 U.S. jobs in the first quarter. Merchandise inventories increased 1.6 percent, while revenue rose 1.4 percent to $16.6 billion, matching the average estimate.

"Our third quarter sales reflect the fourth consecutive quarter of positive same store sales for our business,” Blake said. “As the business stabilizes, we continue to improve our operational performance. We are exercising good control over our expenses but we're also investing in the business to drive improvements across customer service, merchandising and our supply chain."

At the end of the third quarter, the company operated a total of 2,244 retail stores, which included 1,976 The Home Depot stores in the United States (including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the territory of the U.S. Virgin Islands and the territory of Guam), 179 stores in Canada, 80 stores in Mexico and 9 stores in China.