Home Depot sales jump 31% as pandemic-fuelled demand remains

Home Depot Inc on Tuesday reported a bigger-than-expected 31 per cent jump in quarterly same-store sales, allaying concerns that the top U.S. home improvement chain would see pandemic-fuelled demand easing as vaccinations gather steam.

The company’s stock rose 2.2 per cent in pre-market trading, set to add to the nearly 33 per cent gain from the last 12 months when sales surged due to stuck-at-home Americans spending more to upgrade their living spaces.

Home Depot also benefited from builders and contractors rushing back to stores to get through a backlog of projects put on pause during the pandemic, as well as consumer confidence in the strength of the U.S. housing market.

The median existing house price surged a record 17.2 per cent in March, while U.S. homebuilding jumped to nearly a 15-year high.

“Given the heady performance of last quarter it would have been tempting to say that Home Depot had reached its peak. However, as this morning’s numbers show, Home Depot is still climbing,” said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData.

Get weekly money news

Get expert insights, Q&A on markets, housing, inflation, and personal finance information delivered to you every Saturday.

Sign up for weekly money newsletter Sign Up

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Saunders said a fresh round of government stimulus was “the icing on the cake” for the quarter, but warned this level of growth is unlikely to repeat in the second quarter as consumer spending turns to other activities such as travel.

Same-store sales growth was expected to slow in the first quarter to 19.9 per cent from 24.5 per cent in the prior three-month period, as more Americans get inoculated, virus restrictions ease and outdoor activities resume.

Sky-rocketing prices of lumber, which made up nearly nine per cent of Home Depot’s total sales last year, are also expected to have boosted sales in the first quarter.

Overall net sales jumped 32.7 per cent to US$37.50 billion, beating estimates of US$34.96 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

The company’s net earnings of US$3.86 per share, topping estimates of US$3.08.

Shares of rival Lowe’s Cos Inc, scheduled to report first-quarter results on Wednesday, were up 1.5 per cent.

(Reporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)