Home Depot Inc. posted fourth-quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates, showing consumers are still willing to spend on their houses.

Profit in the quarter through Jan. 31 rose to $1.17 a share, the Atlanta-based company said Tuesday in a statement. Analysts estimated $1.10, on average. Sales climbed 9.5 percent to $21 billion, beating analysts’ $20.4 billion projection.

The results signal that Home Depot’s business remains largely immune to the tepid demand that’s weighed on other retailers. While consumers have restrained purchases of items like clothing, they’ve kept shelling out cash to fix up their dwellings, encouraged by rising housing prices. Sales at Home Depot’s stores open for more than a year rose 7.1 percent, topping analysts’ 4.3 percent prediction.

“The home improvement sector remains well positioned as it benefits from higher GDP growth, ongoing recovery in the housing market, and wealth creation stemming from home price appreciation,” Joseph Feldman, an analyst at Telsey Advisory Group, said in a note before the results were released.

Profit this year will rise to $6.12 to $6.18 a share, Home Depot said. The range straddles analysts’ average estimate of $6.16.

Home Depot rose 1.3 percent to $124.50 at 6:15 a.m. in early trading New York. The shares had slid 7.1 percent this year through Monday, compared with an 8.6 percent drop for rival Lowe’s Cos.

Home Depot had about 349.1 million customer transactions in the quarter, up 5.1 percent from a year earlier. The average purchase grew 2 percent to $58.96.

Home prices in the 20 cities measured by the S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values increased 5.8 percent from a year earlier in the 12 months through November. That was the biggest advance since July 2014.

Home Depot also raised its quarterly dividend by 17 percent to 69 cents a share.