Home Depot net income climbs on sales spike

ATLANTA - Home Depot Inc.'s (HD) fiscal fourth-quarter net income rose 32 percent on tight cost controls and spiking sales.

The world's biggest home-improvement company reported Tuesday that it earned $774 million, or 50 cents per share, for the period ended Jan. 29. That's up from $587 million, or 36 cents per share, a year earlier.

The earnings topped the 42 cents per share analysts expected.

Revenue increased 6 percent to $16.01 billion, beating Wall Street's $15.5 billion estimate.

Revenue at stores open at least a year climbed 5.7 percent.

The Atlanta company projected fiscal 2012 earnings of about $2.79 per share, after expected stock buybacks. Revenue is expected to climb approximately 4 percent, implying $73.2 billion.

Analysts foresee earnings of $2.76 per share on revenue of $72.47 billion.

[zebra62]

Comments were not allowed on the Robert Kagen article so I apply mine here. This Scholar is off the mark. Manufacturing capability is the main engine of growth that this country thrived on. Not only are our manufacturing jobs gone, most companies have sold the assets(equipment and tooling) that allowed the manufacturing and jobs to happen. Accompany the manufacturing loss and its long term unemployment with our extreme levels of debt and you have the main elements of a decline in the United States. It is unfortunate that the countries that have the power and wealth to support economic growth are either Communist, Muslim or near-Muslim.