Home Depot Sales Boosted by Smaller Projects Amid Housing Market Slump

Home Depot's sales increased to $47.86 billion in its second quarter, exceeding Wall Street's expectations of $47.24 billion.

The company's revenue growth was driven by customers focusing on smaller projects during the summer months, with global comparable store sales rising 1.7% and U.S. sales increasing 1.3%.

Chief Financial Officer Richard McPhail attributed the demand to 'broad-based' interest in smaller projects, while Neil Saunders of GlobalData noted a 1.5% increase in such projects over last year.

However, bigger-ticket projects remained down by 2.1%, with homeowners facing higher borrowing costs and record mortgage rates posing an obstacle to larger home improvement projects.