Home Depot’s Sales Jump 25.1 Pct Amid Record-Breaking Quarter

Home Depot’s Sales Jump 25.1 Pct Amid Record-Breaking Quarter

Home Depot said Tuesday (Feb. 23) its fourth-quarter revenue rose 25.1 percent, capping a record-breaking year of sales and earnings.

The country’s largest home improvement retailer reported that comparable sales for the quarter climbed 24.5 percent, including 25 percent growth at its U.S.-based stores.

As for its overall results, Home Depot reported $2.65 in diluted earnings per share on sales of $32.3 billion, which exceeded analyst estimates of $2.62 in earnings per share on $30.73 billion in revenues.

“The team demonstrated ongoing flexibility to operate effectively in a very challenging environment and deliver record-breaking sales and earnings,” Chairman and CEO Craig Menear said in the earnings announcement.

For the full year, Home Depot reported a 19.9 percent increase in sales from fiscal 2019. Comparable sales for the period climbed 19.7 percent and comparable sales in the U.S. jumped 20.6 percent.

Murky Outlook

Home Depot said it was not offering guidance for fiscal 2021 because of the lack of certainty when it comes to the length of the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the shopper.

“As we look ahead to fiscal 2021, while we are not able to predict how consumer spending will evolve, if the demand environment during the back half of fiscal 2020 were to persist through fiscal 2021, it would imply flat to slightly positive comparable sales growth and operating margin of at least 14 percent,” Executive Vice President and CFO Richard McPhail said in the announcement.

The news comes as Home Depot rode the pandemic-fueled home improvement wave to a large rise in its in-store comp sales for Q3. The firm registered $33.5 billion in sales for the third quarter of fiscal 2020, a rise of $6.3 billion or 23.2 percent higher than 2019. Comparable sales in the U.S. were up 24.6 percent.

By comparison, Ace Hardware Corporation reported on Feb. 16 as part of its financial results that revenues soared 39.2 percent between fourth quarter 2019 and fourth quarter 2020.