Post-Earnings Briefing - Home Depot

LONDON, March 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Editor Note: For more information about this release, please scroll to bottom.

Investor-Edge.com has issued free post-earnings review on The Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD). On February 24, 2015, the company reported its financial results for Q4 FY14 and full year FY14 (period ended February 01, 2015). Click on http://get.Investor-Edge.com/pdf/?c=Home%20Depot&d=23-Mar-2015&s=HD to read our free earnings review on The Home Depot Inc. (Home Depot). During Q4 FY14 and FY14, the company's net sales grew 8.3% Y-o-Y and 5.5% Y-o-Y, respectively. Chairman, President, and CEO of Home Depot, Craig Menear, stated that the company had a strong finish to the year, as strength across the store, the recovering U.S. housing market and solid execution aided the company's business in 2014. Our free coverage report can be accessed at:

http://get.Investor-Edge.com/pdf/?c=Home%20Depot&d=23-Mar-2015&s=HD

Earnings Overview 

During Q4 FY14, Home Depot's net sales were $19.16 billion compared to $17.70 billion in Q4 FY13. The company's Q4 FY14 net sales outperformed Bloomberg analysts' forecast of $18.69 billion. Furthermore, Home Depot's comparable store sales (comp sales) for Q4 FY14 were positive 7.9%, and comp sales for U.S. stores were positive 8.9%. Free research on HD can be downloaded in PDF format at:

http://get.Investor-Edge.com/pdf/?c=Home%20Depot&d=23-Mar-2015&s=HD

For Q4 FY14, Home Depot's net earnings were $1.38 billion, or $1.05 per diluted share, compared to $1.01 billion, or $0.73 per diluted share, in Q4 FY13. Analysts from Bloomberg had expected Q4 FY14 net earnings of $1.18 billion, or $0.89 per diluted share. Furthermore, Q4 FY14 results reflect a pretax gain on sale of $111 million, or $0.05 per diluted share, related to the sale of a portion of the company's equity ownership in HD Supply Holdings Inc.

In FY14, Home Depot's net sales increased to $83.18 billion from $78.81 billion in FY13. The company's FY14 net sales outperformed Bloomberg analysts' forecast of $82.69 billion. For FY14, Home Depot's comp sales increased 5.3% and comp sales for U.S. stores were positive 6.1%. The company reported net earnings of $6.35 billion, or $4.71 per diluted share, in FY14 compared to $5.39 billion, or $3.76 per diluted share, in FY13. Analysts from Bloomberg had expected FY14 net earnings of $6.13 billion, or $4.56 per diluted share. Additionally, for FY14, Home Depot reported net cash from operations of $8.24 billion compared to $7.63 billion in FY13.

Since 2002 and up to February 1, 2015, the company has returned more than $53 billion of cash to shareholders through repurchase of 1.2 billion shares. On February 24, 2015, Home Depot's Board of Directors announced $18.0 billion share repurchase authorization, replacing its previous authorization. The Board also declared a 26% hike in the quarterly dividend to $0.59 per share, which is the sixth hike in the last six years and 112^th consecutive quarterly cash dividend. The dividend is payable on March 26, 2015, to shareholders of record on the close of business on March 12, 2015.

In its FY15 outlook, Home Depot expects sales growth of approximately 3.5% to 4.7% and comp sales growth of approximately 3.3% to 4.5%. The company also anticipates diluted earnings per share growth after anticipated share repurchases of 8.5% to 10%, or in the range of $5.11 to $5.17. Sign up and read the free analyst's notes on HD at:

http://get.Investor-Edge.com/pdf/?c=Home%20Depot&d=23-Mar-2015&s=HD

Stock Performance 

On the day of the earnings release, February 24, 2015, Home Depot's stock gained 3.98%, finishing the session at $116.75. Since then, the stock has moved both ways. On the last close, Friday, March 20, 2015, the company's shares ended 2.02% higher at $117.49, hitting 52-week high of $117.99. A total of 8.45 million shares were traded which was above their three months average volume of 5.25 million shares. Over the last one month and previous three months, Home Depot's shares have gained 4.68% and 15.27%, respectively. Further, the stock has surged 46.10% over the past one year. Shares in the company closed above their 50-day and 200-day moving averages of $110.36 and $95.39, respectively.

Sneak Peek to Corporate Insider Trading 

In the last one month, there were 20 corporate insider transactions done by eight individuals. Between February 25, 2015 and March 04, 2015, a total of 209,343 shares were purchased at an average price of $32.61 per share and for a total value of $6.83 million. During the same period, a total of 284,969 shares, worth $33.11 million, were sold at an average price of $116.19 per share. The following are some of the abovementioned transactions: Carol B. Tomé, Executive Vice President - Corporate Services and Chief Financial Officer at Home Depot, bought 143,381 shares at an average price of $29.58 per share and sold 155,595 shares at an average price of $116.26 per share; Timothy (Tim) M. Crow, Executive Vice President - Human Resources at  Home Depot, purchased 40,000 shares at a price of $32.32 and disposed 45,624 shares at an average price of $116.55 per share; and  Mark Holifield, Executive Vice President - Supply Chain and Product Development at Home Depot, bought 14,291 shares at an average price of $49.79 per share and sold 29,553 shares at an average price of $116.06 per share.

Visit Investor-Edge and access the latest research on HD at:

http://get.Investor-Edge.com/pdf/?c=Home%20Depot&d=23-Mar-2015&s=HD

Complimentary in-depth research on HD is available at:

http://get.Investor-Edge.com/pdf/?c=Home%20Depot&d=23-Mar-2015&s=HD

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