Atlanta-based Home Depot easily topped expectations for both profit and revenue in the third quarter, but investors were spooked after the company stuck by projections it put out earlier this year.
Shares of The Home Depot Inc. declined more than 2% before the market opened Tuesday.
Profit rose 5.1% to $4.34 billion in the quarter, or $4.24 per share. That far exceeds the per-share projections of $4.11 on Wall Street, according to a survey of industry analysts by Zacks Investment Research.
Quarterly revenue for the company rose 5.6% to $38.87 billion, which also exceeded forecasts.
However, for the year, the home improvement retailer affirmed its expectations that sales would grow about 3%, which is weaker than most analysts have projected. It expects per-share growth in the mid-single digits percentage range.
