Home Depot sales continue to surge in hot housing market

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN
AP Business Writer

Home Depot’s sales continued to climb through third quarter with the U.S. housing market red hot. The Atlanta company reported Tuesday that sales rose 9.8% to $36.82 billion, exceeding the $34.97 billion that Wall Street had expected. Sales at stores open at least a year, a key gauge of a retailer’s health, jumped 6.1%, also better than expected. While the number of customer transactions slipped 5.5%, the average receipt rose 12.9% to $82.38. Profits easily exceeded analyst expectations. .Hardware stores have been a hub of activity during the pandemic as people working from home took on new projects.