Stocks in the news: Home Depot, CIT Group, Saks

The following post rounds up the companies making headlines today:

Home Depot (HD) reported second quarter results this morning, posting a seven percent profit decline to $1.1 billion, or 66 cents per diluted share. But earnings topped expectations mainly due to cost cuts that helped offset a nine percent fall in revenue. Home Depot also upped its full year guidance, saying it expects earnings per share from continuing operations excluding special items to fall by 15 percent to 20 percent, better than previous estimate of a decline of 20 percent to 26 percent. It kept its sales guidance to fall by about 9 percent this year. Shares gained 3.6 percent in pre-market trading.

CIT Group Inc. (CIT), the commercial lender that has barely managed to escape the clutches of bankruptcy several times so far, said Monday in a regulatory filing it lost $1.68 billion in the second quarter, and again warned it might have to file for bankruptcy protection if it fails to restructure its business. CIT lost $4.30 per share during the quarter ended June 30, far more than analyst expectations for a loss of $1.95 per share. Shares jumped five percent ahead of the bell.