Home Depot Looks to Pros for Shelter

Home Depot is turning to the pros. Its timing is unusual.

The home improvement retailer on Tuesday said comparable-store sales in the U.S. declined 3.5% in the quarter ended Oct. 29 compared with a year earlier—slightly better than the 3.7% decline that Wall Street analysts polled by Visible Alpha were penciling in. That marks the fourth consecutive quarter of comparable-store declines after some heady growth during the pandemic years, when Americans suddenly found themselves more homebound than they ever have been. Net income fell 12%, which was better than the 15% decline analysts expected. Home Depot shares jumped 6.6% Tuesday morning.