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Home Depot (HD) Increases Despite Market Slip: Here's What You Need to Know

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Home Depot (HD - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $379.74, moving +1.28% from the previous trading session. The stock outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a daily loss of 0.19%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.8%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.1%.

Coming into today, shares of the home-improvement retailer had gained 5.03% in the past month. In that same time, the Retail-Wholesale sector gained 5.42%, while the S&P 500 gained 2.26%.

Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Home Depot in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $2.53, reflecting a 19.17% decrease from the same quarter last year. Alongside, our most recent consensus estimate is anticipating revenue of $38.18 billion, indicating a 3.85% downward movement from the same quarter last year.

In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $14.51 per share and a revenue of $164.65 billion, indicating changes of -4.79% and +3.22%, respectively, from the former year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Home Depot should also be noted by investors. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the business and profitability.

Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has remained unchanged. Home Depot is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell).

In terms of valuation, Home Depot is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 25.84. This represents a premium compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 23.73.

One should further note that HD currently holds a PEG ratio of 13.97. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The average PEG ratio for the Retail - Home Furnishings industry stood at 2.31 at the close of the market yesterday.

The Retail - Home Furnishings industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 188, this industry ranks in the bottom 24% of all industries, numbering over 250.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Don't forget to use Zacks.com to keep track of all these stock-moving metrics, and others, in the upcoming trading sessions.


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