Maybe all those do-it-yourselfers completed all their projects around the house.
Home Depot’s same-store U.S. sales fell short of estimates in the second quarter, according to Reuters. It’s a notable decline from the company’s huge pandemic-fueled 2020.
Same store sales did rise, but just 3.4 percent in the second quarter compared to Q1. That was the smallest increase in two years, and well below analysts’ estimates of 4.9 percent.
Share prices for the nation’s largest home improvement retailer fell by as much as 5.5 percent earlier this week. Still, the company’s earnings per share of $4.53 bested estimates of $4.44. Net sales were also up 8.1 percent to $41.12 billion.
Cut off from leisure activities and forced to spend more time at home, Americans last year flocked to Home Depot to embark on DIY projects.
Despite the Delta variant’s surge, leisure activities have picked up and venues have reopened, factors that could account for the retailer’s underwhelming performance last quarter.
About half of lumber dealers and manufacturers — many of them who experienced shortages for much of the pandemic — recently reported surpluses.
Home Depot CFO Richard McPhail did say that sales in the first weeks of August were comparable to the second quarter. Regarding the Delta variant, McPhail added the company doesn’t “see anything that we would point to and say that’s the impact.”
[Reuters] — Dennis Lynch