The Home Depot, Inc. (HD) Q1 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

For the period ending April 30, 2023

May 16, 2023 9:00 a.m. ET

Prepared Remarks

Questions and Answers

Call Participants

Prepared Remarks:

Operator

Greetings and welcome to the Home Depot First Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Isabel Janci. Please go ahead.

Isabel Janci

Thank you, Christine and good morning everyone. Welcome to Home Depot’s first quarter 2023 earnings call. Joining us on our call today are Ted Decker, Chair, President and CEO; Billy Bastek, Executive Vice President of Merchandising; Ann-Marie Campbell, Executive Vice President of U.S. Stores and International Operations; and Richard McPhail, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. [Operator Instructions] If we are unable to get to your question during the call, please call our Investor Relations department at 770-384-2387.

Before I turn the call over to Ted, let me remind you that today’s press release and presentations made by our executives include forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations and projections. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to the factors identified in the release and in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Today’s presentations will also include certain non-GAAP measures. Reconciliation of these measures is provided on our website.

Now, let me turn the call over to Ted.

Ted Decker

Thank you, Isabel and good morning everyone. Over the past 3 years, we grew our business $47 billion or 43%. After this period of unprecedented growth, we expect the demand would moderate in fiscal 2023, which our first quarter results reflect. Sales for the first quarter were $37.3 billion, down 4.2% from the same period last year. Comp sales declined 4.5% from the same period last year and our U.S. stores had negative comps of 4.6%. Diluted earnings per share were $3.82 in the first quarter compared to $4.09 in the first quarter last year.

Our sales for the quarter were below our expectations, primarily driven by lumber deflation and unfavorable weather. Particularly in our Western division as extreme weather events in California disproportionately impacted our results. As you will hear from Billy, where weather was favorable, we saw strength in key spring-related categories such as live goods and other garden-related categories.