**Home Depot Surpasses Q3 Expectations and Revises Full-Year Forecast Upwards**

Home Depot Inc (NYSE: HD) has seen an uptick in its stock price after the home improvement giant’s third-quarter earnings surpassed projections, prompting an optimistic full-year 2024 forecast.

Home Depot reported a year-over-year sales increase of 6.6%, totaling $40.217 billion for the third quarter, which exceeded the consensus estimate of $39.173 billion. Despite a slight 0.2% dip in customer transactions and a 1.3% decline in comparable sales, the company managed to outshine market expectations. Notably, comparable sales within the U.S. dipped by 1.2%.

The company’s gross profit for the third quarter rose by 5.4% year-over-year to reach $13.425 billion, achieving a profit margin of 33.4%, though this marked a decline of 40 basis points from the previous year. Operating income saw a marginal decrease of 0.22%, settling at $5.418 billion, with the operating margin slipping 86 basis points to 13.5%. Adjusted operating margin also fell, from 14.5% to 13.8% year-over-year.

Operating expenses jumped by 9.2% year-over-year to $8.01 billion. Nonetheless, adjusted EPS stood at $3.78, a 1.8% decline year-over-year but above the market consensus of $3.64.

The average ticket in the third quarter was $88.65, reflecting a 0.8% decrease, while sales per retail square foot dropped 2.1% to $582.97. As of the end of October, Home Depot held $1.531 billion in cash and equivalents and reported an operating cash flow of $15.139 billion for the first nine months, compared to $16.439 billion in the same period the prior year.

Home Depot's extensive operations include 2,345 retail stores and over 780 branches across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

CEO Ted Decker noted that despite ongoing macroeconomic uncertainties, the third-quarter performance was strong, bolstered by a normalization in weather patterns which enhanced engagement with seasonal goods, outdoor projects, and hurricane-related sales.

In light of the third-quarter results, Home Depot has raised its full-year 2024 sales guidance from an earlier range of $156.49 billion - $158.01 billion to $158.78 billion, surpassing the consensus estimate of $157.33 billion. The company now projects a 2.5% decline in comparable sales, a slight improvement over the previously anticipated 3% - 4% decline. Adjusted EPS is expected to be $15.10, slightly below the $15.25 recorded in fiscal year 2023, yet higher than the consensus estimate of $14.84. The company also forecast a gross margin of approximately 33.5% and an adjusted operating margin of 13.8%.

Reflecting market optimism, Home Depot shares were trading higher by 1.56% at $414.65 in premarket trading on Tuesday.