(Reuters) -Home Depot ( HD ) raised its annual same-store sales forecast on Tuesday, betting on resilient demand from professional contractors to offset weak spending on bigger projects such as kitchen renovations.

The top U.S. home improvement retailer's shares, up 18% this year, rose 2% in premarket trading as it posted a smaller-than-expected drop in third-quarter comparable sales.

"As weather normalized, we saw better engagement across seasonal goods and certain outdoor projects as well as incremental sales related to hurricane demand," CEO Ted Decker said in a statement on Tuesday.

Home Depot ( HD ) has seen choppy demand in the past two years, as customers grappled with sticky inflation and higher mortgage rates.

Customers have instead focused on repair and maintenance activities around their existing homes.

It still posted a 1.3% decline in comparable sales in the quarter, its eighth straight quarter of declines, compared with analysts' average estimate of a 3.25% drop, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Home Depot ( HD ) now expects a fall in comparable sales of 2.5% for fiscal year 2024, compared with its prior range of a 3% to 4% drop.

(Reporting by Savyata Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)