Home Depot's second-quarter earnings rose 17 percent according to The Wall Street Journal.
"The second quarter results exceeded our expectations as our business benefited from a rebound in our seasonal categories, continued strength in the core of the store and the recovering housing market in the U.S.," Home Depot Chief Executive Frank Blake said in a statement The Journal reported.
The home improvement retailer was helped by the steadily recovering housing market which allowed customers to buy more items, and spend more money The Journal reported. During the quarter which ended Aug. 4, Home Depot recorded a $1.8 billion or $1.24 a share profit in comparison to last year when earning was $1.53 billion or $1.01 The Journal reported.
Sales increased 9.5 percent to $22.52 billion surpassing analysts' predictions of $1.21 with a revenue of $21.8 billion; same-store sales went up 10.7 percent while those the previous year increased 2.1 percent The Journal reported.
The chain hopes to have per-share earnings of $3.60 with a revenue percent of 4.5 percent The Journal reported. This is an increase from its original goal of $3.52 of per-share earnings with a 2.8 percent growth of revenue.
According to The Journal, Home Depot has re-purchased $4.3 billion of its shares so far this year, and plans to obtain $2.2 billion in extra shares throughout the rest of 2013.
The store is the world's largest home improvement specialty retailer with locations in all 50 states including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, 10 Canadian provinces, and Mexico according to its website.
