The Home Depot Inc. and its competitor Lowe's Cos. Inc. both reported better-than-expected third quarter results this week. Here's a summary of how the nation's two largest home improvement chains performed.

Home Depot:

Profit: $756 million, down 31 percent from last year.

Revenue: $17.78 billion, down 6 percent.

Same-store sales: Down 8.3 percent.

Outlook: Home Depot says fiscal 2008 sales could fall as much as 8 percent while earnings from continuing operations will decline by 24 percent, in line with its previous guidance.

Lowe's:

Profit: $488 million, down 24 percent from last year.

Revenue: $11.73 billion, up 1.4 percent.

Same-store sales: Down 5.9 percent.

Outlook: Lowe's forecast a profit of $1.46 to $1.54 per share for the fiscal year, which ends in late January. That's down from its earlier projection for a profit of $1.48 to $1.56 per share.