Home Depot (NYSE: HD) saw its shares sink shortly after Tuesday’s opening bell, on announcing financial figures for the fiscal year’s opening quarter.
The Atlanta-based Home Depot, the world's largest home improvement retailer, today reported sales of $28.3 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2020, a 7.1% increase from the first quarter of fiscal 2019. Comparable sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2020 were positive 6.4%, and comparable sales in the U.S. were positive 7.5%.
Net earnings for the first quarter of fiscal 2020 were $2.2 billion, or $2.08 per diluted share, compared with net earnings of $2.5 billion, or $2.27 per diluted share, in the same period of fiscal 2019. For the first quarter of fiscal 2020, diluted earnings per share decreased 8.4% from the same period in the prior year.
According to CEO Craig Menear, "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."
Home Depot took several actions to prioritize safety and enhance associate benefits.
To promote a safe environment for associates and customers, the company implemented a number of operational changes in mid-March, including closing stores earlier to allow more time for sanitation and replenishing of essential products, limiting customer traffic in stores, and canceling traffic-driving events such as Spring Black Friday.
HD shares dropped $3.77, or 1.5%, to $241.59.
Related Stories
