Home Depot Gains 4% Following Q4 Beat

Shares of Home Depot Inc HD were trading higher by more than 3 percent after the company reported its fourth quarter results.

Home Depot said it earned $1.17 per share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $20.98 billion. Wall Street analysts were expecting the company to earn $1.10 per share on revenue of $20.39 billion.

Comparable store sales for the quarter were +7.1 percent, while net earnings rose to $1.5 billion, or $1.17 per diluted share, from $1.4 billion, or $1.05 per diluted share, in the same quarter a year ago.

Sales for the full fiscal year rose 6.4 percent from 2014's level to $88.5 billion while earnings per share rose to $5.46 from $4.71. Comparable sales for the full year were +7.1 percent.

Home Depot's Board of Directors also authorized a 17 percent increase to its quarterly dividend and investors will receive $0.69 per share.

"Our focus on improving the interconnected customer experience, along with solid execution and continued recovery in the U.S. housing market, resulted in record sales and net earnings for 2015," said Craig Menear, chairman, CEO and president.

Looking forward to fiscal 2016, Home Depot expects to earn $6.12 to $6.18 per share on revenue of $88.084 billion to $88.838 billion. Wall Street analysts were already estimating the company to earn $6.16 per share on revenue of $93.12 billion.