Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) reported fiscal first-quarter results before markets opened Tuesday. The home improvement superstore posted earnings per share (EPS) of $2.08 on revenues of $28.26 billion. Consensus estimates were calling for EPS of $2.26 and revenues of $27.28 billion. In the same quarter of last year, the company said it had EPS of $2.27 and revenues of $26.38 billion.
During the most recent quarter, comparable sales rose 6.4% globally and 7.5% in the United States.
The board of directors declared a first-quarter cash dividend of $1.50 per share. The dividend is payable on June 18, 2020, to shareholders of record on the close of business on June 4.
Note that the company suspended its previously issued guidance for fiscal 2020. At that time, Home Depot said that it expected to see EPS of $10.45 and total sales growth of 3.5% to 4.0%. Consensus estimates are calling for $9.95 in EPS and $111.94 billion in revenue for the full year.
Home Depot’s CEO and board chair, Craig Menear, commented:
As the COVID-19 pandemic evolved, we anchored to the core values of our Company by focusing on two key priorities: working to ensure the safety and well-being of our associates and customers, and providing our customers and communities with essential products. We took early and decisive action to intentionally limit customer traffic in our stores which we believe had a significant impact to sales in many markets. Even with these actions, the robust and flexible interconnected infrastructure that we have invested in for over a decade allowed us to quickly adapt to changing customer preferences and achieve strong sales performance in the quarter.
Home Depot stock closed Monday at $245.35, in a 52-week range of $140.63 to $248.32. The consensus price target is $225.92. Following the announcement, the stock was down about 1% at $241.87 in early trading indications Tuesday.
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