The Home Depot, the world's largest home improvement retailer, reported sales of $23.2 billion for the third quarter of fiscal 2016, a 6.1 percent increase from the third quarter of fiscal 2015. Comparable store sales for the third quarter of fiscal 2016 were positive 5.5 percent, and comp sales for U.S. stores were positive 5.9 percent.

Net earnings for the third quarter of fiscal 2016 were $2.0 billion, or $1.60 per diluted share, compared with net earnings of $1.7 billion, or $1.35 per diluted share, in the same period of fiscal 2015. For the third quarter of fiscal 2016, diluted earnings per share increased 18.5 percent from the same period in the prior year.

"We experienced balanced sales growth in the quarter driven by an increase in both ticket and transactions, and our continued focus on productivity drove double-digit earnings-per-share growth," said Craig Menear, chairman, CEO and president. "I would like to thank our associates and suppliers for their hard work and dedication to our customers throughout the quarter, and particularly in the face of Hurricane Matthew and the flooding in Louisiana."

Updated Fiscal 2016 Guidance

The Company reaffirmed its fiscal 2016 sales guidance and expects sales will be up approximately 6.3 percent and comp sales will be up approximately 4.9 percent. The Company raised its diluted earnings-per-share guidance for the year and now expects diluted earnings per share to grow approximately 15.9 percent from fiscal 2015 to $6.33.

At the end of the third quarter, the Company operated a total of 2,276 retail stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, 10 Canadian provinces and Mexico. The Company employs more than 385,000 associates. The Home Depot's stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange and is included in the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 index.