Home Depot (HD) posted stronger-than-expected fourth quarter earnings Tuesday as home improvement buyers drilled past inflationary pressures to boost average ticket sales and the retail giant's overall sales tally.
Shares in the group slumped lower, however, after it cautioned that supply chain constraints, which narrowed profit margins over the holiday quarter, would likely persist into the coming year.
Home Depot said earnings for the three months ending in January, the company's fiscal fourth quarter, were pegged at $3.21 per share, up 21.1% from the same period last year and just ahead of the Street consensus forecast of $3.18 per share. Group revenues, Home Depot said, rose 10.7% to $35.7 billion, again topping analysts' estimates of a $34.9 billion tally.
Same store sales were up 8.1% from last year, Home Depot said, just ahead of the Refinitiv forecast of 4.9%, while comparable sales in the U.S. were up 7.6%, a figure that also topped Street forecasts. Average tickets rose 12.4% to $85.11 per trip, helping the overall revenue increase even amid the recent surge in consumer price inflation.
Looking into the 2022 fiscal year, which ends next January, Home Depot said it sees 'low single digit' earnings growth, flat operating margins and net interest expenses of around $1.5 billion. The group also boosted its quarterly dividend by 15% to $1.90 per share.
"Fiscal 2021 was another record year for The Home Depot. We achieved a milestone of over $150 billion in sales," said CEO Craig Menear. "Our ability to grow the business by over $40 billion in the last two years is a testament to investments we have made in the business, our ability to execute with agility, and our associates' relentless focus on our customers."
"I would like to thank all of our associates, as well as our supplier partners, for their hard work and dedication to serving our customers, communities and each other," he added.
Home Depot shares were marked 8% lower in late morning trading following the earnings release to change hands at $319.60 each, a move that would erase all of the stock's six-month gains.
"The guidance seems appropriately conservative to us with a new CEO (Ted Decker) starting next month," said D.A. Davidson analyst Michael Baker, who carries a 'neutral' rating with a $420 price target on the stock.
"As usual, one of the keys to how the stock will react will be the monthly sales cadence and early February trends ... but, the guidance suggests trends are continuing in the same direction, at least on a two year basis."
