Home Depot Inc (HD) posted better-than-anticipated first-quarter same-store sales and earnings, supported by higher client spending on large-ticket items such as flooring & roofing materials and appliances. The company also said it expected strong sales during the second three-month period, as housing continued to be a well-performing asset class.
Home Depot shares closed higher for a third consecutive trading session on Tuesday. The stock went up 0.59% ($0.93) to $158.26, after touching an intraday high at $160.86 and also the highest price level ever recorded. In the week ended on May 14th the shares of the home improvement chain added 0.76% to their market value compared to a week ago, which marked the third gain in the past four weeks, but yet, the smallest one since the week ended on April 9th. The stock has extended its advance to 1.38% so far during the current month, following a 6.31% surge in April. The latter has been a sixth consecutive monthly gain and also the sharpest one since July 2016. For the entire past year, Home Depot shares gained 1.38%.
Sales at stores, which are open for over 1 year, were reported to have increased 5.5% during the latest quarter. Analysts surveyed by research firm Consensus Metrix, had expected a 3.9% growth. At the same time, comparable sales at stores in the United States rose 6%.
The number of customer transactions went up 1.6% during the first quarter ended on April 30th, with the average ticket value rising almost $2 to $62.39.
Meanwhile, sales of large-ticket items (those priced at more than $900) grew 15.8% during the latest three-month period, while net sales rose 5% to $23.89 billion. In comparison, the median forecast by analysts had pointed to net sales of $23.76 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Home Depots net earnings were reported to have increased 12% to $2.01 billion ($1.67 per share) during the quarter ended on April 30th, which also outstripped the median analyst estimate ($1.62 per share).
Additionally, Home Depot revised up its EPS forecast for the year ending January 2018 to $7.15 per share from $7.13 as expected previously, citing $5-billion share repurchases in 2017.
According to CNN Money, the 27 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Home Depot’s stock price, have a median target of $158.00, with a high estimate of $175.00 and a low estimate of $130.00. The median estimate is a 0.16% decrease compared to the closing price of $158.26 on May 16th.
The same media also reported that 20 out of 31 surveyed investment analysts had rated Home Depot’s stock as “Buy”, while 8 – as “Hold”.
Daily and Weekly Pivot Levels
With the help of the Camarilla calculation method, todays levels of importance for the Home Depot stock are presented as follows:
R1 – $158.52
R2 – $158.78
R3 (Range Resistance – Sell) – $159.03
R4 (Long Breakout) – $159.81
R5 (Breakout Target 1) – $160.71
R6 (Breakout Target 2) – $161.07
S1 – $158.00
S2 – $157.74
S3 (Range Support – Buy) – $157.49
S4 (Short Breakout) – $156.71
S5 (Breakout Target 1) – $155.81
S6 (Breakout Target 2) – $155.45
By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for Home Depot Inc (HD) are presented as follows:
Central Pivot Point – $156.80
R1 – $158.27
R2 – $159.62
R3 – $161.09
R4 – $162.56
S1 – $155.45
S2 – $153.98
S3 – $152.63
S4 – $151.28
TradingPedia.com is a financial media specialized in providing daily news and education covering Forex, equities and commodities. Our academies for traders cover 
