Home Depot quarter better than expected; shares set to recover

Posted Aug 18th 2009 10:00AM by Brian White
Filed under: Earnings Reports, Home Depot (HD)

Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) didn't have the best quarter when it reported this morning, but it was better than the market expected. The largest home improvement retailer in the U.S. saw net income of $1.12 billion, down from $1.2 billion from the year-ago quarter. It reported earnings per share of $0.67, ahead of the consensus analyst estimate of $0.59.

The retailer's shares had dipped over 3.8% Monday to close at $26.11 joining in the huge Dow plunge. Will HD shares recover? According to pre-market action, it certainly seems that way, as the retailer did skid through its latest quarter without huge bumps and bruises. Still, as markets have shown yesterday, there is the realization that the consumer won't be spending the economy towards a recovery. At least, not in 2009.

Over this summer, anecdotal evidence showed this writer that Home Depot shopping levels had not really slowed down among several local stores. Summer flowers, tools and foot traffic were pretty heavy, so those left employed after the massive job cuts over the last six months were not sitting at home counting the bills under the mattress.

Still, the holiday spending season will probably be a huge weak spot for retailers this fall and winter, Home Depot and competitor Lowe's Cos. (NYSE: LOW) included. Next quarter may not be as pretty as this one.

Tags: featured, HD, Home Depot, HomeDepot