Home Depot shares hit a fresh all-time high on Tuesday as company reports solid sales growth in third quarter, raises full-year forecast

Shares of Home Depot hit their highest price level on record at the close yesterday, after the company reported strong sales during the third quarter of fiscal 2017 and also raised its full-year forecast.

Home Depot shares closed higher for a third consecutive trading session on Tuesday. It has also been the sharpest daily surge since September 6th. The stock went up 1.64% ($2.71) to $168.06. The latter has been a fresh all-time high.

In the week ended on November 12th the shares of the home improvement chain lost 0.17% of their market value compared to a week ago, which marked a second consecutive period of decrease.

Due to yesterdays gain, the stock has neutralized earlier losses and is now up 1.38% so far during the current month, following a 1.36% surge in October. The latter has been a third consecutive month of gains.

For the entire past year, Home Depot shares gained 1.38%. The stock has risen another 25.34% so far in 2017.

Home Depots total sales went up 8.1% to $25 billion during the third quarter ended on October 29th compared to the same period a year earlier. The chains comparable store sales grew 7.9% year-on-year during the quarter, with its comparable store sales in the United States being up 7.7%.

Home Depots net earnings were reported to have risen to $2.2 billion ($1.84 per diluted share) during the third quarter of fiscal 2017 from $2.0 billion ($1.60 per diluted share) during the same period a year ago.

According to estimates by the Atlanta-based home improvement giant, hurricane-related sales had a positive impact on comparable sales growth, evaluated at $282 million during the third quarter. At the same time, the company faced $104 million in hurricane-related expenses during the period.

Home Depot said that the severe hurricane season had had a negative impact on its operating profit, estimated at $51 million during the fiscal third quarter.

“Though this quarter was marked by an unprecedented number of natural disasters, including multiple hurricanes, wildfires in the West, and earthquakes in Mexico, the underlying health of our core business remains solid”, Craig Menear, Home Depots Chairman, Chief Executive and President, was quoted as saying in the press release.

Meanwhile, based on its year-to-date performance as well as underlying strength of its core business, Home Depot raised its sales growth forecast for fiscal year 2017. Total sales are now expected to increase by 6.3%, while comparable store sales – by 6.5% from the previous fiscal year.

The home improvement chain also raised its diluted earnings per share growth forecast for the full year, while it now projects earnings per share to increase by 14% from fiscal year 2016 to $7.36.

According to CNN Money, the 29 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Home Depot’s stock price, have a median target of $175.00, with a high estimate of $189.00 and a low estimate of $153.16. The median estimate is a 4.13% surge compared to the closing price of $168.06 on November 14th.

The same media also reported that 20 out of 31 surveyed investment analysts had rated Home Depot’s stock as “Buy”, while 8 – as “Hold”.

Daily and Weekly Pivot Levels

With the help of the Camarilla calculation method, todays levels of importance for the Home Depot stock are presented as follows:

R1 – $168.51
R2 – $168.95
R3 (Range Resistance – Sell) – $169.40
R4 (Long Breakout) – $170.74
R5 (Breakout Target 1) – $172.31
R6 (Breakout Target 2) – $173.09

S1 – $167.61
S2 – $167.17
S3 (Range Support – Buy) – $166.72
S4 (Short Breakout) – $165.38
S5 (Breakout Target 1) – $163.81
S6 (Breakout Target 2) – $163.03

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for Home Depot Inc (HD) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $163.76
R1 – $165.23
R2 – $166.36
R3 – $167.83
R4 – $169.31

S1 – $162.63
S2 – $161.16
S3 – $160.03
S4 – $158.91