ATLANTA —Home Depot is riding the turnaround in the U.S. housing market with strong fourth-quarter results. The world’s largest home improvement retailer reported Q4 sales of $19.2 billion, up 8.3% from $18.7 billion, while same-store sales were positive 7.9% (U.S. stores enjoyed comps of 8.9%). Net earnings for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014 were $1.4 billion, up 43.8%.
For the year, sales increased 5.5% to $83.2 billion, an increase of 5.5% from 2013. Total same-store sales for the year increased 5.3%, and comp sales for U.S. stores were positive 6.1%. Net earnings reached $6.3 billion, up 17.8%.
