ATLANTA (AP) — Home Depot’s fourth-quarter profit is short of expectations with rising real estate prices cooling home sales.
Shares fell 2.6 percent Tuesday before the opening bell.
The home improvement retailer earned $2.34 billion, or $2.09 per share, far short of the per-share earnings of $2.22 Wall Street was looking for, according to a survey by FactSet.
A year ago the Atlanta company earned $1.78 billion, or $1.52 per share.
The current quarter was also nicked by a one-time charge or 16 cents per share.
Revenue climbed to $26.49 billion, from $23.88 billion, helped by an extra week in the quarter, but that too was short of forecasts.
Home Depot Inc.’s sales at stores open at least a year rose 3.2 percent, also short of analyst expectations of a 4.5 percent jump.
