Home Depot posts Q1 sales decline
Citing softness in discretionary spending on the home, the world’s largest home improvement retailer posted its sixth consecutive quarter of negative comp-store sales.
For the three months ended April 28, The Home Depot reported net sales of $36.418 billion, compared to sales of $37.257 billion in the prior-year quarter, a decline of 2.3 percent.
Comp-store sales declined 2.8 percent and declined 3.2 percent for U.S. stores.
Despite those declining numbers, the company “continued to grow market share,” said CEO Ted Decker. “And while the quarter was impacted by a delayed start to spring and continued softness in certain larger discretionary projects, we feel great about our store readiness, our product assortment in stores and online, and our associate engagement,” he said.
Net income for the quarter declined 7.0 percent to $3.600 billion.
The Atlanta-based retailer’s $18 billion acquisition of SRS Distribution did not factor into the company’s first quarter financials because the deal has not closed yet.
The company’s full year guidance for the 53-week 2024 fiscal year has not changed. Home Depot still expects total sales growth of about 1.0 percent, and comp-store sales to decline about 1.0 percent.
Also in 2024, Home Depot expects to:
- Open about 12 new stores;
- Achieve gross margin of about 33.9 percent; and
- Achieve operating margin of about 14.1 percent.
The one extra week on the calendar in fiscal 2024 is expected to add an extra $2.3 billion to total sales.
