(Reuters) – Home Depot forecast annual sales below Wall Street estimates on Tuesday, signaling that lackluster home-improvement demand would continue to affect the company this year as people tighten spending on home remodeling amid sticky inflation.
The company’s shares fell more than 1% to $357 in premarket trading.
With food prices and borrowing costs still elevated, customers are limiting home-related spend to just modest repair and maintenance work rather than undertaking larger renovations.
Home improvement companies are seeing stable demand for key items such as plumbing and hardware, while more discretionary categories such as flooring, kitchen and furniture have lagged.
Home Depot forecast comparable sales to decline about 1% for fiscal 2024, while analysts were expecting an increase of 0.06%, according to LSEG data.
The company forecast earnings per share to grow by about 1% for fiscal 2024, while analysts were expecting a 3.62% rise to $15.61, according to LSEG data.
(Reporting by Granth Vanaik and Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
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