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While retailers in other sectors have been struggling, The Home Depot’s fourth quarter 2016 financial results marked overall growth for the company, according to a press release by the Home Depot.
The big-box retailer reported 5.8 percent growth over the same period in fiscal 2015 in stores open at least a year and fourth quarter sales totaling $22.21 billion. Additionally, “comparable store sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016 were positive 5.8 percent and comp sales for U.S. stores were positive 6.3 percent.”
Total sales for 2016 were $94.6 billion, an increase of 6.9 percent over 2015.
Home Depot’s chairman, CEO and president Craig Menear credits the company’s growth to “providing localized and innovative product selection, improving the interconnected customer experience and driving productivity.” Menear also says that the strong housing market and customer demand contributed to the big-box retailer’s performance.
The company has previously attributed strong performance to the housing industry.
While other retail industries are facing struggles, it appears the home improvement industry will continue to on this path, which Oppenheimer analyst Brian Nagel shared with CNBC.
“There really is a moat around the home improvement category that protects it from online competition,” Nagel told CNBC. “The other big piece is… this is an area of demand growth within retail. People are spending on their homes.”
Home Depot outlined its fiscal guidance for 2017 in the press release, projecting sales growth and comparable store sales growth of 4.6 percent and announcing its intentions to open six new stores.
Home Depot is based in Atlanta and operates more than 2,200 stores throughout North America.
