Home Depot Inc. on Wednesday forecast tepid sales growth for next year, pointing to more weakness at the No.1 U.S. home improvement chain, just weeks after it cut its outlook for the 2019 fiscal year due to disappointment over an online overhaul.
The company has been investing heavily in its e-commerce business by adding automated lockers in its stores to keep shoppers from moving online and has developed a more user-friendly website under its “One Home Depot” program.
Shares of the company (HD), which reaffirmed its 2019 sales and profit forecast, were down about 2% in early trading at $211.88. They are up about 26% this year.
Home Depot is also ramping up its supply chain to speed up delivery as it wrestles with competition from smaller rival Lowe’s Cos. Inc. (LOW), which has been gaining market share in a tough retail environment.
Last month, Home Depot said the strategy was not yet generating as much revenue as it had expected, prompting it to cut its 2019 sales forecast for the second time.
In a statement ahead of a meeting with analysts and investors that starts at 9 a.m. ET, Chief Executive Officer Craig Menear said the company was confident that investments in the One Home Depot will address the evolving needs of customers.
“We are building on our distinct competitive advantages to capitalize on a large and fragmented market opportunity,” he said.
The company forecast preliminary fiscal 2020 sales growth of about 3.5% to 4%, compared with analysts average expectations of 4.3%, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Home Depot also said it expects operating margin of about 14% in fiscal 2020, below a previous target of about 14.4% to 15% it set in 2017.
“The majority of the margin decline is due to elevated ‘One Home Depot’ investments,” Wedbush analyst Seth Basham said.
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