FILE- This Aug. 23, 2018, file photo shows a Home Depot store in Orlando, Fla. Home Depot Inc. reports financial results Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2019. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)Strains in the nation’s housing sector, coupled with nasty weather across the U.S., took their toll on Home Depot’s sales in the last few months of 2018.
And more disconcerting news about the state of the U.S. housing market could make for a challenging 2019 for the home-improvement giant.
In the fourth quarter, Home Depot Inc. fell short on profit, revenue and same-stores sales as rising real estate prices cast a chill over U.S. home sales.
And the weather was terrible.
“It was cold, it was snowy, and perhaps worst of all, it was wet,” CEO Craig Menear told analysts after the release of the Atlanta-based company’s results. “Wet weather delays projects, and this was evidenced in our sales performance in the quarter.”