5 Stocks that Crushed Earnings Expectations

2. The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 68

Home Depot, Inc.’s (NYSE: HD) history dates back to 1978 when Bernard Marcus and Arthur Blank created the company with a goal to establish a hardware store chain with a complete range of merchandise and highly trained staff. The company initially started its operations by opening two stores in Atlanta in 1979. Since then, its store count has climbed to 2,300, helping it become a leading player in the home improvement space.

The company on Tuesday announced its Q2 profit and sales above expectations. The home improvement retailer reported earnings of $4.53 per for the quarter ended August 1, up from $4.02 per share in the comparable period of 2020.

Revenue came in at $41.1 billion, up 8.1 percent from the year-ago quarter. The results easily surpassed analysts’ average estimate of $4.43 per share for earnings and $40.73 billion for revenue.

CEO Craig Menear praised the latest quarterly performance. Menear said in a statement, “I am very proud of our associates, who continue to demonstrate a relentless focus on serving our customers. As a result of their efforts, we achieved a milestone of over $40 billion in quarterly sales for the first time in Company history. I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to our team, as well as our supplier and supply chain partners, as they continue to operate in this dynamic and challenging environment.”