ATLANTA, Dec. 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Home
Depot®, the world's largest home improvement retailer,
will host its 2019 Investor and Analyst Conference today, where it
will provide an update on key strategic priorities and discuss its
preliminary outlook for Fiscal Year 2020.
Today's conference will begin at 9 a.m.
ET and will be available in its entirety through a live
webcast and replay at ir.homedepot.com in the Events &
Presentations section.
One Home Depot Strategy
Customers expect a frictionless, interconnected shopping
experience. As a result, in fiscal 2018, the Company began a
three-year, accelerated investment program to position itself as
One Home Depot. This One Home Depot strategy is creating a truly
interconnected shopping experience by allowing customers to
seamlessly blend the digital and physical worlds.
Investments to deliver on this strategy follow a customer-back
approach, touching every aspect of the Company's business. These
investments and capabilities – including store enhancements and new
e-commerce solutions, industry-leading delivery options, and a
comprehensive Pro ecosystem – will further unlock the
interconnected retail vision the Company began building many years
ago.
"We are confident that the investments we are making in the One
Home Depot experience will address the evolving needs of our
customers. We are building on our distinct competitive advantages
to capitalize on a large and fragmented market opportunity and
extend our leadership position for years to come," said
Craig Menear, chairman, CEO and
president.
Fiscal Year 2019 Guidance
The Company reaffirmed its guidance for fiscal 2019, a 52-week
year compared to fiscal 2018, a 53-week year, as follows:
- Total sales growth of approximately 1.8 percent and comparable
sales growth for the comparable 52-week period of approximately 3.5
percent
- Diluted earnings-per-share growth of approximately 3.1 percent
from fiscal 2018 to $10.03
Preliminary Outlook for Fiscal Year 2020
In addition, the Company is providing a preliminary fiscal 2020
outlook as follows:
- Total sales growth of approximately 3.5 percent to 4.0
percent
- Comparable sales growth of approximately 3.5 percent to 4.0
percent
- Operating margin of approximately 14.0 percent
- Return on invested capital of approximately 45 percent
The Home Depot is the world's largest home improvement specialty
retailer, with 2,291 retail stores in all 50 states,
the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin
Islands, Guam, 10 Canadian provinces and Mexico. In
fiscal 2018, The Home Depot had sales of $108.2
billion and earnings of $11.1 billion. The Company
employs more than 400,000 associates. The Home Depot's stock is
traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: HD) and is included in
the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500
index.
Certain statements contained in today's presentations
constitute "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking
statements may relate to, among other things, the demand for our
products and services; net sales growth; comparable sales; effects
of competition; implementation of store, interconnected retail,
supply chain and technology initiatives; inventory and in-stock
positions; state of the economy; state of the housing and home
improvement markets; state of the credit markets, including
mortgages, home equity loans and consumer credit; impact of
tariffs; issues related to the payment methods we accept; demand
for credit offerings; management of relationships with our
associates, suppliers and vendors; continuation of share repurchase
programs; net earnings performance; earnings per share; dividend
targets; capital allocation and expenditures; liquidity; return on
invested capital; expense leverage; stock-based compensation
expense; commodity price inflation and deflation; the ability to
issue debt on terms and at rates acceptable to us; the impact and
expected outcome of investigations, inquiries, claims and
litigation; the effect of accounting charges; the effect of
adopting certain accounting standards; the impact of the Tax Cuts
and Jobs Act of 2017 and other regulatory changes; store openings
and closures; guidance for fiscal 2019 and beyond; financial
outlook; and the integration of acquired companies into our
organization and the ability to recognize the anticipated synergies
and benefits of those acquisitions. Forward-looking statements are
based on currently available information and our current
assumptions, expectations and projections about future events, and
actual results could differ materially from our expectations and
projections. You should not rely on our forward-looking statements.
These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are
subject to future events, risks and uncertainties – many of which
are beyond our control, dependent on the actions of third parties,
or are currently unknown to us – as well as potentially inaccurate
assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially
from our expectations and projections. These risks and
uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those described in
Item 1A, "Risk Factors," and elsewhere in our Annual Report on Form
10-K for our fiscal year ended February 3,
2019 and in our subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.
Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made,
and we do not undertake to update these statements other than as
required by law. You are advised, however, to review any further
disclosures we make on related subjects in our periodic filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
View original content to download
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-home-depot-to-provide-update-on-transformational-one-home-depot-investment-strategy-to-extend-market-leadership-300972633.html
SOURCE The Home Depot