Brick and mortar retailers have been in taking it in the neck for a few years now, but one area where it still pays to have a physical location is selling building supplies. Kimberly Chin reports in The Wall Street Journal that Home Depot has raised it earnings and sales targets for 2018. She writes:
Home Depot Inc. HD -0.54% raised its earnings and sales targets for the year as it continued to benefit from robust home-improvement activity and a strong U.S. economy in the latest quarter.
The Atlanta company on Tuesday said it is targeting sales growth of about 7% and comparable-store sales growth of about 5.3%, above its prior guidance of 6.7% and 5%, respectively. Home Depot also raised its earnings target to $9.42 a share from its earlier forecast of $9.31 a share.
Home Depot said its second-quarter profit jumped 31% to $3.5 billion, or $3.05 a share, from the year-ago period. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected a profit of $2.84 a share.
Revenue rose 8.4% from a year earlier to $30.5 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting revenue of $30.03 billion. Meanwhile, overall comparable-store sales rose 8%, with U.S. comparable-store sales rising 8.1%.
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