The logo of U.S. home improvement chain Home Depot is seen in Mexico City, Mexico, on Jan. 15, 2020.
Luis Cortes | Reuters
Home Depot will report its latest earnings results Tuesday as the retailer pushes to draw more sales from home professionals such as roofers and landscapers.
Here’s what Wall Street is expecting for the fiscal first quarter, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:
- Earnings per share: $3.60 expected
- Revenue: $36.66 billion expected
Home Depot is contending with a tougher housing backdrop, which has dampened demand for do-it-yourself projects. About half of Home Depot’s sales comes from DIY customers, and the other half comes from pros.
As interest rates remain high, consumers have been reluctant to move out of their homes and into new ones — the kind of turnover that often inspires home projects. They have also bought fewer big-ticket items and taken on more modest projects.
Inflation may also be playing a role in that pullback, as consumers spend more money on essentials and have to make trade-offs when spending discretionary income.
Home Depot has seen sales moderate after more than two years of explosive demand during the Covid pandemic. The company posted its worst revenue miss in nearly two decades and cut its forecast in the year-ago first quarter. Home Depot’s sales totaled $152.7 billion in the fiscal year that ended in late January, a drop of 3% year over year.
To overcome those challenges, the home improvement retailer has revved up its strategy to attract pros, since they tend to buy larger quantities and offer a steadier source of sales. Home Depot announced in late March that it would acquire SRS Distribution, a Texas-based specialty distributor of roofing, landscaping and pool supplies, for $18.25 billion in the largest acquisition in the company’s history. Home Depot has a growing network of distribution centers across the country that can store and deliver roofing shingles, insulation and other supplies straight to job sites.
Along with wooing pros, Home Depot is trying to drive growth by opening about a dozen new stores this fiscal year and adding features to improve its online and in-store experience.
Home Depot said in March it expects total sales to grow about 1% in fiscal 2024, which includes one additional week. However, the retailer said it expects comparable sales, which take out the impact of store openings and closures, to decline about 1%, excluding that additional week.
Shares of Home Depot closed Monday at $340.96. So far this year, Home Depot’s shares have fallen about 2% compared with the roughly 9% gains of the S&P 500.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
