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In its third-quarter financial results released Nov. 14, The Home Depot says sales related to hurricanes “positively impacted comparable store sales growth by approximately $282 million.”
The big-box home improvement retailer beat analysts’ projections for its overall sales and its comparable store sales for the third quarter. Home Depot saw an 8.1 percent increase overall from the third quarter in 2016, and overall comparable store sales were up 7.9 percent, the company reports.
“Though this quarter was marked by an unprecedented number of natural disasters, including multiple hurricanes, wildfires in the West, and earthquakes in Mexico, the underlying health of our core business remains solid,” says Craig Menear, chairman, CEO and president. “I am proud of our team and suppliers for their extraordinary efforts to support those in the path of the various natural disasters throughout the quarter. Our support of the impacted communities continues.”
The retailer reports that although its comparable sales saw an uptick as a result of the hurricanes, “gross margin on hurricane-related sales was considerably less than the company average.” Additionally, Home Depot reports that hurricanes cost the company $104 million during the quarter, and its operating profit was down approximately $51 million due to the impact from natural disasters.
Earlier this fall, Home Depot and Lowe’s opened additional warehouses in Houston to serve the area affected by Hurricane Harvey.
As a result of its better-than-expected performance in the quarter, Home Depot updated its projected annual sales growth to 6.3 percent, up from 5.3 percent, which was its adjusted rate after historic second-quarter sales earlier this year.
As of the third quarter, Home Depot operates a total of 2,283 retail stores in North America and employs more than 400,000 associates.
