ATLANTA, Aug. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — The Home Depot®, the world’s largest home improvement retailer, today reported sales of $28.1 billion for the second quarter of fiscal 2017, a 6.2 percent increase from the second quarter of fiscal 2016. Comparable store sales for the second quarter of fiscal 2017 were positive 6.3 percent, and comp sales for U.S. stores were positive 6.6 percent.

Net earnings for the second quarter of fiscal 2017 were $2.7 billion, or $2.25 per diluted share, compared with net earnings of $2.4 billion, or $1.97 per diluted share, in the same period of fiscal 2016. For the second quarter of fiscal 2017, diluted earnings per share increased 14.2 percent from the same period in the prior year.

“We were pleased with our results this quarter as our customers rewarded us with the highest quarterly sales in company history,” said Craig Menear, chairman, CEO and president. “We also achieved the highest quarterly net earnings in company history. These results were made possible by our hard working associates and the outstanding values brought forth by our supplier partners.”

Updated Fiscal 2017 Guidance

Based on its year-to-date performance, the Company updated its fiscal 2017 sales growth guidance and now expects sales will be up approximately 5.3 percent and comp sales will be up approximately 5.5 percent. The Company also raised its diluted earnings-per-share growth guidance for the year and now expects diluted earnings-per-share growth of approximately 13.0 percent from fiscal 2016 to $7.29. The Company’s diluted earnings-per-share growth guidance includes the impact of $7 billion of share repurchases for fiscal 2017.

The Home Depot will conduct a conference call today at 9 a.m. ET to discuss information included in this news release and related matters. The conference call will be available in its entirety through a webcast and replay at ir.homedepot.com/events-and-presentations.

At the end of the second quarter, the Company operated a total of 2,282 retail stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, 10 Canadian provinces and Mexico. The Company employs more than 400,000 associates. The Home Depot’s stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: HD) and is included in the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor’s 500 index.

Certain statements contained herein constitute “forward-looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may relate to, among other things, the demand for our products and services; net sales growth; comparable store sales; effects of competition; state of the economy; state of the residential construction, housing and home improvement markets; state of the credit markets, including mortgages, home equity loans and consumer credit; demand for credit offerings; inventory and in-stock positions; implementation of store, interconnected retail, supply chain and technology initiatives; management of relationships with our suppliers and vendors; the impact and expected outcome of investigations, inquiries, claims and litigation, including those related to the 2014 data breach; issues related to the payment methods we accept; continuation of share repurchase programs; net earnings performance; earnings per share; dividend targets; capital allocation and expenditures; liquidity; return on invested capital; expense leverage; stock-based compensation expense; commodity price inflation and deflation; the ability to issue debt on terms and at rates acceptable to us; the effect of accounting charges; the effect of adopting certain accounting standards; store openings and closures; guidance for fiscal 2017 and beyond; financial outlook; and the integration of acquired companies into our organization and the ability to recognize the anticipated synergies and benefits of those acquisitions. Forward-looking statements are based on currently available information and our current assumptions, expectations and projections about future events. You should not rely on our forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to future events, risks and uncertainties – many of which are beyond our control or are currently unknown to us – as well as potentially inaccurate assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations and projections. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to those described in Item 1A, “Risk Factors,” and elsewhere in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for our fiscal year ended January 29, 2017 and in our subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.

Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and we do not undertake to update these statements other than as required by law. You are advised, however, to review any further disclosures we make on related subjects in our periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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SOURCE The Home Depot