The Home Depot Reports Record Financial Year

The Home Depot®, the world's largest home improvement retailer, today reported fourth quarter and fiscal 2021 results.

Fourth Quarter 2021

Sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021 were $35.7 billion, an increase of $3.5 billion, or 10.7 percent from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020. Comparable sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021 increased 8.1 percent, and comparable sales in the U.S. increased 7.6 percent.

Net earnings for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021 were $3.4 billion, or $3.21 per diluted share, compared with net earnings of $2.9 billion, or $2.65 per diluted share, in the same period of fiscal 2020. For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021, diluted earnings per share increased 21.1 percent from the same period in the prior year.

Fiscal 2021

Sales for fiscal 2021 were $151.2 billion, an increase of $19.0 billion, or 14.4 percent, from fiscal 2020. Comparable sales for fiscal 2021 increased 11.4 percent, and comparable sales in the U.S. increased 10.7 percent.

Net earnings for fiscal 2021 were $16.4 billion, or $15.53 per diluted share, compared with net earnings of $12.9 billion, or $11.94 per diluted share in fiscal 2020. For fiscal year 2021, diluted earnings per share increased 30.1 percent versus last year. 

"Fiscal 2021 was another record year for The Home Depot. We achieved a milestone of over $150 billion in sales," said Craig Menear, chairman and CEO. "Our ability to grow the business by over $40 billion in the last two years is a testament to investments we have made in the business, our ability to execute with agility, and our associates' relentless focus on our customers. I would like to thank all of our associates, as well as our supplier partners, for their hard work and dedication to serving our customers, communities and each other."

Dividend Declaration

The Company today announced that its board of directors approved a 15 percent increase in its quarterly dividend to $1.90 per share, which equates to an annual dividend of $7.60 per share.

The dividend is payable on March 24, 2022, to shareholders of record on the close of business on March 10, 2022. This is the 140th consecutive quarter the Company has paid a cash dividend.

Fiscal 2022 Guidance

The Company's fiscal 2022 guidance assumes the run-rate of dollar demand it has observed over the last two quarters continues through fiscal 2022. This dollar run-rate is adjusted for the Company's historical seasonality to calculate its sales outlook for 2022.

Fiscal 2022 Guidance:

• Sales growth and comparable sales growth to be slightly positive
• Operating margin approximately flat with fiscal 2021
• Net interest expense of approximately $1.5 billion
• Tax rate of approximately 24.6 percent
• Diluted earnings-per-share-growth to be low single digits

The Home Depot will conduct a conference call today at 9 a.m. ET to discuss information included in this news release and related matters, including a brief update on strategic initiatives. The Company expects the conference call to end no later than 10:30 a.m. ET. Following the call, supplemental slides related to the conference call can be found at  https://ir.homedepot.com/financial-reports/quarterly-earnings/2021. The conference call will be available in its entirety through a webcast and replay at ir.homedepot.com/events-and-presentations.

At the end of the fourth quarter, the Company operated a total of 2,317 retail stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, 10 Canadian provinces and Mexico, including 14 stores in the U.S. from a small acquisition completed during the second quarter of fiscal 2021. The Company employs approximately 500,000 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.

Source : The Home Depot

Image : Rob Wilson / shutterstock.com (180692453)

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