Home Depot profit soars on solid sales

ATLANTA ― For its third quarter, Home Depot reported sales of $21.8 billion, a 6.4% increase from the third quarter of fiscal 2014. Comparable store sales for the period were positive 5.1%, with comp sales for U.S. stores up 7.3%. Net earnings for Q3 were up 13% to $1.7 billion, while diluted earnings per share increased 17.4%. The results include a pre-tax expense of $20 million related to the company’s 2014 data breach.