Feb 24 (Reuters) - Home Depot beat Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter sales on Tuesday, as the world's largest home improvement chain benefited from resilient demand from professional contractors and lower‑cost repairs by budget-strapped customers.
Its shares were up 3.5% in premarket trading after the company reaffirmed its annual sales forecast provided in December.
Atlanta-based Home Depot has held up amid a weak U.S. housing market by leaning more aggressively into its professional (Pro)
customers, whose large, ongoing jobs help offset the slowdown in big do‑it‑yourself remodels.
Demand for big-ticket home remodeling that typically requires financing has remained soft due to elevated interest rates.
"For the fourth quarter, our results were largely in-line with our expectations, reflecting the lack of storm activity in the third quarter and ongoing consumer uncertainty and pressure in housing," said CEO Ted Decker.
The company reported a 0.4% rise in same-store sales for the three months ended February 1, compared with analysts' expectations of largely flat sales, according to data compiled by LSEG.
The company maintained its fiscal year 2026 comparable sales forecast of flat to 2% jump. Analysts on average were estimating a 2% growth, according to data compiled by LSEG.
(Reporting by Savyata Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
