Home Depot expects sales to weaken as consumers grow more cautious
Home Depot on Tuesday topped quarterly expectations, but cautioned that sales will be weaker than expected in the back half of the year as high interest rates and consumer uncertainty dampen demand.
Home Depot on Tuesday topped quarterly expectations, but cautioned that sales will be weaker than expected in the back half of the year as high interest rates and consumer uncertainty dampen demand.
The home improvement retailer said it now expects full-year comparable sales to decline by 3% to 4% compared with the prior fiscal year. It had previously expected comparable sales, a metric that takes out the impact of store openings and closures and other one-time factors, to decline about 1%.
Home Depot’s total annual sales will get a boost from its recently completed acquisition of SRS Distribution, a company that sells supplies to professionals in the landscaping, roofing or pool businesses. Total sales are expected to increase between 2.5% and 3.5% including a 53rd week in the fiscal year and approximately $6.4 billion in sales from SRS. Yet excluding sales from SRS, its new full-year forecast would have amounted to a revenue cut.
In an interview with CNBC, Chief Financial Officer Richard McPhail said Home Depot has contended with consumers who have a “deferral mindset” since the middle of 2023. Interest rates have caused them to put off buying and selling homes and borrowing money for bigger projects, such as a kitchen renovation.
Yet over the past quarter, he said surveys of customers and home professionals like contractors have captured another challenge: a more cautious consumer.
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