The No. 2 home-improvement retailer says it earned $489 million, or 34 cents a share, in the three-month period ending April 30. In the same period last year the Mooresville, N.C., company earned $476 million, or 32 cents a share.
Revenue rose 4.7 percent to $12.39 billion.
The results handily beat the expectations of analysts. According to Thomson Reuters, analysts expected the company to earn 31 cents a share on revenue of $12.24 billion.
Home improvement retailers have been hurting as shoppers cut back on their spending, but CEO Robert Niblock says people are again taking on projects and buying big ticket items.
