Home Depot Inc.’s share price down, posts 12% net income increase for the first financial quarter, profit trails analysts’ estimates

The biggest home-improvement chain in the U.S. – Home Depot Inc. made an official statement today, revealing its profit for the first quarter , which trailed the analysts estimates, due to the slow improvement of the housing market in the country.

Mr. Frank Blake, who is the companys Chairman and Chief Executive Officer said in Home Depots announcement, which was cited by the Wall Street Journal: “The first quarter was impacted by a slow start to the spring selling season. But we had solid results in non-weather impacted markets and expect our sales for the year to grow in line with the guidance we previously provided.”

According to the companys statement, Home Depots net income for the first quarter of the current financial year that ended May 4th increased by 12% from 1.23 billion dollars for the same period a year ago and reached 1.38 billion dollars. The results for the first three months of 2014 fell short of analysts projections, but still showed signs of improvement.

The bad winter weather in some parts of the U.S., combined with higher mortgage rates made the situation for the company harder, because they slowed the housing expansion of Home Depot. The latter had been quite beneficial for the company over the past four years, because it helped the company double its profit. In February this year the company shared that it expects its consolidation in the housing market to be beneficial for its growth.

Home Depot Inc. also shared its projection for the year, saying that it expects profit to amount to 4.42 dollars per share. This forecast is a bit higher than the previous expectations of the company of a profit estimated to 4.38 dollars a share. It is also higher than the analysts average estimates of 4.41 dollars a share.

Home Depot Inc. was 1.11% down to close at 76.50 dollars per share yesterday, marking a one-year change of -0.47%. According to the information published on CNN Money, the 23 analysts offering 12-month price forecasts for Home Depot Inc. have a median target of 91.00, with a high estimate of 100.00 and a low estimate of 72.00. The median estimate represents a +18.95% increase from the last price of 76.50.