Home Depot Likes High Oil

Updated from 7:53 a.m. EDT

Rising fuel prices, a bugbear for most of the retail sector, are helping Home Depot(HD Quote), the remodeling giant that reported a surge in second-quarter earnings Tuesday and guided the rest of the year higher.

The Atlanta-based retail chain earned $1.55 billion, or 70 cents a share, in the three months ended Aug. 1, up about 18% from earnings of $1.30 billion, or 56 cents a share, last year. Sales rose 11% to $19.96 billion, while same-store sales increased 4.8%, helped by sales of power tools and appliances.

Excluding items, Home Depot earned 71 cents a share in the most recent quarter. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call had been expecting earnings of 64 cents a share on sales of $20.17 billion. ...