Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) stock rose 1.76% (As on November 13, 12:56:25 AM UTC-4, Source: Google Finance) after the company reported higher total sales than Wall Street expected and upped its guidance for the full year. Home Depot’s comparable sales fell 1.3% in the reported quarter. The company’s comparable sales in the United States declined 1.2% in the fiscal third quarter. The decline resulted from decreases in customer transactions and the average ticket. In the fiscal third quarter, customer transactions moved down 0.2% year over year, whereas the average ticket was down 0.8%. Sales per retail square foot fell 2.1% in the reported quarter. In dollar terms, the gross profit rose 5.4% year over year to $13.4 billion in the fiscal third quarter. However, the gross margin of 33.4% expanded 40 basis points (bps) year over year in the reported quarter. Home Depot ended third-quarter fiscal 2024 with cash and cash equivalents of $1.5 billion, a long-term debt (excluding current installments) of $50.1 billion, and shareholders’ equity of $5.8 billion.

HD in the third quarter of FY 24 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of $3.78, beating the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of $3.65, according to the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The company had reported the adjusted revenue growth of 6.6 percent to $40.2 billion in the third quarter of FY 24, beating the analysts’ estimates for revenue of $39.33 billion. The adjusted operating income rose 1.9% year over year to $5.6 billion, while the adjusted operating margin of 13.8% contracted 70 bps year over year.

The company has raised its sales and earnings per share view for fiscal 2024, driven by the year-to-date performance and the inclusion of SRS results. Home Depot anticipates sales to increase 4% year over year for fiscal 2024 compared with 2.5-3.5% growth expected earlier. The company’s sales guidance includes a $2.3-billion sales contribution from the 53rd week and $6.4 billion in incremental sales from SRS.

Home Depot expects comparable sales to decline 2.5% for the 52 weeks compared with the prior mentioned 3-4% decline. HD estimates the gross margin for fiscal 2024 to be 33.5%, with an operating margin of 13.5% (compared with the previously stated 13.5-13.6%). It expects an adjusted operating margin of 13.8%. HD plans to open 12 stores for fiscal 2024. HD expects adjusted earnings per share to fall 1% year over year versus the 1-3% decline mentioned earlier.