Home Depot earnings beat expectations but the stock is falling anyway. It might simply be a case of selling news.

There was nothing wrong with Home Depot's (ticker: HD) numbers. The home-improvement retailer reported third-quarter earnings of $4.24 a share, topping analysts' projections of $4.12 a share. Revenue came in at $38.9 billion, up 5.6% from a year earlier and topping estimates for $38 billion. Same-store sales rose 4.3%, ahead of estimates for 3.1%. U.S. same-store sales rose 4.5%.

"We delivered another solid performance in the third quarter, driven by strength in project-related categories across the business," said Ted Decker, chairman, president and CEO, in a press release.

Home Depot even reaffirmed guidance for fiscal 2022. Previously, Home Depot said it expected comparable sales to grow by 3%, and per-share earnings to grow by mid-single digits.

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That wasn't enough to lift the Home Depot stock, however. Its shares had fallen 2.2% ahead of Tuesday's opening bell. The stock's 11% rally last week following a slower-than-expected inflation reading might be partially to blame, explains Wells Fargo analyst Zachary Fadem. "HD's Q3 results were very solid, with largely anticipated top/bottom-line beats and reiteration of the FY22 outlook," he writes. "That said, the bar was high, particularly following last week's CPI relief rally, and with Q4 deceleration implied (on a 3-yr basis), we expect shares to trade lower today."

Investors have been wary of the home improvement sector over the last few quarters, fearing that the slowdown in the housing market would spill over to home improvement. Home Depot stock has 26% this year as of Monday's close, while the S&P 500 has fallen 17%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has declined 7.7%.