(Reuters) - Home Depot Inc raised its fiscal-year earnings outlook on Tuesday as tight cost controls helped the world's largest home improvement chain offset sales weakness and beat Wall Street's profit estimates in the latest quarter.
The company's second quarter, which ended on July 29, is typically the most important selling period for home improvement chains, but unseasonably warm weather early in the year pulled some demand into the first quarter.
Net earnings rose to $1.53 billion, or $1.01 a share, in the quarter from $1.36 billion, or 86 cents a share, a year earlier.
Analysts on average were expecting a profit of 97 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Sales rose 1.7 percent to $20.57 billion, but missed the analysts' average estimate of $20.74 billion.
Home Depot has benefited from its recent efforts to improve distribution and customer service. It has been quicker to cut costs than rival Lowe's Cos Inc, and in some cases has gotten a boost as housing markets have improved in regions where it has a heavy presence.
A return to more localized marketing and merchandising has also helped Home Depot.
In the second quarter, sales at stores open at least a year rose 2.1 percent globally, including a 2.6 percent increase in the United States.
Home Depot said it still expected total fiscal-year sales to rise 4.6 percent. It forecast earnings at $2.95 a share, up from its prior outlook of $2.90.
(Reporting by Dhanya Skariachan in New York; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/home-depot-profit-tops-estimates-despite-sales-miss-101643192--finance.html
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