<p>The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD) reported higher-than-expected quarterly results and raised its sales and profit outlook for the year on Tuesday as the world's largest home improvement chain benefited from the construction aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.</p><p>For the quarter, Home Depot reported a profit of 83 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier profit of 68 cents a share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected Home Depot to post an 18 percent increase in per-share earnings and a 5 percent rise in revenue.</p><p>Home Depot's sales topped analysts’ estimates, and sales rose 7.4 percent to $19.1 billion in the first quarter. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had most recently forecast earnings of 77 cents on revenue of $18 billion. </p><p>Home Depot reported a profit of $1.22 billion for the quarter ended May 5, up from a year-ago profit of $1.04 billion. </p><p>In addition, the company raised its view for the year to earnings of $3.52 a share on revenue growth of 2.8 percent from its prior view of earnings of $3.37 a share on revenue growth of 2 percent. </p><p>Sales at Home Depot stores open at least a year rose 4.3 percent, though analysts expect same-store sales at rival Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW) to be weaker than Home Depot's.</p><p>Lowe’s, which is the world’s second largest home improvement retailer, is set to report its first-quarter results on Wednesday.</p><p>Analysts forecast the retailer to report earnings of 51 cents per share, up from 44 cents a year ago.</p><p>Lowe's is forecast to report 15 percent growth in earnings per share and a 2 percent increase in revenue. Revenue is expected to be $13.45 billion for the quarter, 2.3 percent higher than the year-earlier total of $13.15 billion. </p>
