Home Depot sees sales decline
The Home Depot (HD), based in Atlanta, reported lower Q2 sales and profits.
“While there was strength in categories associated with smaller projects, we did see continued pressure in certain big-ticket, discretionary categories,” said Ted Decker, chair, president and CEO.
The company reported sales of $42.9 billion for the second quarter of fiscal 2023, a decrease of 2.0% from $43.8 billion in the second quarter of fiscal 2022. Comparable sales for the second quarter of fiscal 2023 decreased 2.0%, and comparable sales in the U.S. decreased 2.0%.
Big ticket comp transactions of more than $1,000 were down 5.5 percent compared to the second quarter of last year, the company said.
“After three years of unprecedented demand in the home improvement market, we continue to see softer engagement in big-ticket discretionary categories, like patio and appliances, that likely reflects both pull-forward of these single item purchases and deferrals,” said Billy Bastek, executive vice president of merchandising.
Net earnings for the second quarter of fiscal 2023 were $4.7 billion, or $4.65 per diluted share, compared with net earnings of $5.2 billion, or $5.05 per diluted share, in the same period of fiscal 2022, said the retailer.
Also, during the conference call, the retailer announced that in this quarter, Home Depot has added the Milwaukee brand of electrical hand tools for the electrical trade.
The Bottom Line: Home Depot sales for the second quarter decreased 2% company-wide to just under $43 billion.
What the CEO said: “We remain very positive on the medium-to-long term outlook for home improvement and our ability to grow share in a large and fragmented market,” said Decker.
At the end of the second quarter, the company operated a total of 2,326 retail stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, 10 Canadian provinces and Mexico. The company employs over 470,000 associates.
Company info: Click HERE to read the Q2 2023 full financial report from Home Depot.
