By Denny Jacob

Home Depot's annual outlook disappointed investors, and the house-improvement specialist said customers remain cautious about large remodeling projects.

The U.S.'s fourth-largest retailer posted better-than-projected results for last quarter. But guidance for the current financial year missed expectations, with adjusted earnings seen falling.

Shares dropped around 2% in premarket trading Tuesday.

Larger home projects in areas such as flooring and kitchens remained under pressure, said Richard McPhail, the company's chief financial officer.

"We feel confident in the medium- to long-term," McPhail said in an interview. "We continue to face pressure as our customers adjust to the new normal of higher rates."

-- Stripping out one-time items, earnings came in at $3.13 a share last quarter. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected $3.04.

-- Sales grew 14% to $39.70 billion. Analysts had expected $39.15 billion.

-- For fiscal 2025, Home Depot guided for sales growth of about 2.8%, and a 2% decline in adjusted earnings per share.

-- The Atlanta-based company will raise its quarterly dividend to $2.30 a share, from $2.25. The dividend is payable on March 27.

Home Depot is the biggest U.S. retailer by market capitalization after Amazon, Walmart and Costco. Recap on Walmart earnings here.

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February 25, 2025 07:52 ET (12:52 GMT)

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