Home Depot  (HD) – Get Free Report posted stronger-than-expected second quarter earnings Tuesday, while repeating its full-year profit forecast, as the home improvement retailer said it sees continued pressure on big ticket sales. 

Home Depot said earnings for the three months ending in July, the company’s fiscal second quarter, were pegged at $4.65 per share, down 7.9% from the same period last year but 20 cents ahead of the Street consensus forecast. Group revenues, Home Depot said, fell 2% from last year at $42.916 billion, topping analysts’ estimates of a $42.23 billion tally.

Same store sales were down 2% from last year, Home Depot said, ahead of Street forecasts, while comparable sales in the U.S. were down 2%. Average tickets rose 0.05% per trip to $90.07, while the number of individual transaction slowed by around 1.8%.

Looking into the 2023 fiscal year, which ends next January, Home Depot reiterated its overall earnings forecast to a decline of between 7% and 13% with comparable sales down between 2% and 5%.

 “We were pleased with our performance in the second quarter,” said CEO Ted Decker. “While there was strength in categories associated with smaller projects, we did see continued pressure in certain big-ticket, discretionary categories.”

“We remain very positive on the medium-to-long term outlook for home improvement and our ability to grow share in a large and fragmented market,” he added. “Our associates did an outstanding job delivering value and service for our customers throughout the quarter, and I would like to thank them for their dedication and hard work.” 

Home Depot shares, a Dow component, were marked 0.3% lower in pre-market trading immediately following the earnings release to indicate an opening bell price of $329.00 each