Again, Home Depot rises above the retail fray

ATLANTA (AP) — Home Depot topped expectations for the first quarter thanks in part to mild weather and the company, riding a strong rebound in housing, lifted its outlook for the year.

In its most recent report, the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index rose 5.4 percent and the National Association of Realtors' seasonally adjusted pending home sales index rose 1.4 percent to 110.5, the highest level since May 2015.

Ground breakings are running ahead of last year's pace, largely because of a dramatic increase in the construction of single-family homes.

J.C. Penney last week, after reporting another quarter of losses, said it would begin selling home appliances, the first time it has done so in three decades, hoping to grab some of the profits piling up at Home Depot and its rival, Lowe's.

The company's previous guidance was for earnings between $6.12 and $6.18 per share, with revenue predicted to rise about 5.1 percent to 6 percent and same-store sales growth of approximately 3.7 percent to 4.5 percent.