Home Depot’s 4Q tops Street

Atlanta-based chain gets holiday boost, OKs $18B buyback.

NEW YORK — Shoppers liked what they saw at Home Depot during the holidays, helping the home improvement chain beat Wall Street expectations for its fourth-quarter results. The retailer also authorized the repurchase of $18 billion of its own shares, boosted its quarterly dividend by 26 percent and released a better-than-expected outlook for the year.

Its shares rose 3 percent in morning trading Tuesday after briefly hitting an all-time high.

The Atlanta-based company posted a fourth-quarter profit of $1.38 billion, or $1.05 per share, for the period ending Feb. 1. Excluding a gain related to the sale of a portion of HD Supply, its profit was $1 per share. That’s well above the 89 cents per share that analysts had expected, according to a survey by FactSet.

Revenue was $19.16 billion, also better than Wall Street’s projection of $18.68 billion.

Chairman and CEO Craig Menear said during a conference call that sales were helped by a strong customer response to its holiday decor and gift center as well as its Black Friday deals. Online business also did well, particularly during the period known as “Cyber Week.”

Sales at stores open at least a year rose 7.9 percent in the quarter, 8.9 percent if only U.S. stores are counted.

Strength was seen in categories such as tools, lumber, millwork, lighting, décor, building materials, kitchen,

Home Depot

President Barack Obama has proposed a $12.9 billion budget for the IRS in the coming budget year — about an 18 percent increase. The proposal, however, was not well-received by Republicans who control Congress.

The agency’s budget cuts have come as the IRS is starting to play a bigger role in implementing Obama’s health care law. For the first time, taxpayers have to report on their tax returns whether they have health insurance.

Millions of taxpayers who are receiving tax credits to help pay insurance premiums have to report them as well.

Some Republicans in Congress have vowed to cut IRS funding as a way to stifle implementation of the health care law.

Koskinen has said it won’t work. He said the IRS is required to enforce the law, so other areas will have to be cut, including taxpayer services and enforcement.

The agency projects that about half the people who call the IRS for assistance this filing season won’t be able to get through to a person. The agency is also considering shutting down operations for two days later this year — after tax season — resulting in unpaid furloughs for employees and service cuts for taxpayers, Koskinen said.