Unlike other retailers (cough, Macy's), Home Depot exceeded analyst's expectations, proving people who are cutting back on other purchases are still willing to drop dough on home renovations.

Sales rose 6.4% to $21.8B last quarter—the biggest gain this year—a number helped by an uptick in the housing market.

"As we think about the home improvement space, it's good right now, and we think it's going to be good for a while," CFO Carol Tomé says, adding the housing market will stay strong even if interest rates rise.

Analysts predicted $1.32 per share in profits, but the home improvement store chain's Q3 ended up pulling in $1.36 a share. Same-store sales advanced 5.1%, up from 4.6%.

Happy investors can attribute that to lower gasoline prices and higher employment, allowing Americans to spend more on their homes. And this is all pretty impressive considering the chain has stopped opening new stores.[Bloomberg]