Home Depot's strong quarter overshadowed by 2023 outlook

Home Depot's second-quarter sales rose slightly as the nation's biggest Atlanta company benefitted from an $18 billion acquisition this spring, but customers continued to rein in spending because of broadly higher costs and elevated interest rates.
A Home Depot logo sign hands on its facade, Friday, May 14, 2021, in North Miami, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)

The Home Depot posted strong profits in its final quarter of 2022, but a tepid outlook for this year sank shares of the home improvement retailer before markets opened Tuesday.

The Atlanta company had a fourth-quarter profit of $3.36 billion, or $3.30 per share, which is 3 cents better than Wall Street had expected, according to a survey of analysts by Zacks Investment Research.

Quarterly revenue of $35.83 billion was just shy of expectations, but the focus was on the retailer’s projections for this year.