Home Depot profit and record sales beat expectations and full-year outlook affirmed, but stock turns lower

Shares of Home Depot Inc. /zigman2/quotes/208081807/composite HD -0.44% erased earlier gains to drop 2.5% in premarket trading Tuesday, even after the home improvement retail giant reported fiscal second-quarter profit, record total sales and same-store sales that all rose above expectations and affirmed its full-year outlook. Net income for the quarter to July 31 increased to $5.17 billion, or $5.05 a share, from $4.81 billion, or $4.53 a share, in the same period a year ago, to beat the FactSet consensus for earnings per share of $4.95. Sales grew 6.5% to $43.79 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $43.36 billion. Overall same-store sales increased 5.8% to beat the FactSet consensus for 4.9% growth, and same-store sales in the U.S. rose 5.4% to top expectations of a 4.8% rise. Cost of sales rose a little more than sales, increasing 5.5% to $29.31 billion as gross margin contracted to 33.1% from 33.2%. "Our performance reflects continued strength in demand for home improvement projects," said Chief Executive Ted Decker. For fiscal 2022, the company affirmed its guidance for sales growth of approximately 3.0%, and its EPS growth outlook of mid-single digits percentage range. The stock has gained 6.3% over the past three months through Monday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average /zigman2/quotes/210598065/realtime DJIA -0.47% has advanced 5.2%.