On today's Good Buy or Goodbye segment, Yahoo Finance's Julie Hyman is joined by Zacks Investment Management Client Portfolio Manager Brian Mulberry to dissect his stock picks in the home improvement sector. Mulberry names Home Depot (HD) as a stock to buy, highlighting the company's integrated retail strategy, which he believes "enhances their digital footprint." This approach allows Home Depot to gather more data on consumer trends and increase "wallet share." Additionally, Mulberry notes that the company connects consumers with contractors, enabling them to "maintain better margins" and boost cost control. Lastly, he emphasizes that Home Depot has maintained its professional market share by offering a "wider selection of products that help contractors," thereby increasing margins. On the other hand, Mulberry identifies Lowe's (LOW) as a stock to avoid. He points out that the company is experiencing a consumer spending pullback on big-ticket discretionary items, which he expects to be reflected in their upcoming earnings report as "it's already a measurable change to the downside." Furthermore, Mulberry notes that Lowe's is grappling with "inventory control problems," leading to a loss of margins. Lastly, he highlights the company's substantial debt on its balance sheet, which he says has to be "repriced at a much higher interest rate" under the current rate environment. For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Market Domination. This post was written by Angel Smith
Lowe's (LOW) has an impressive earnings surprise history and currently possesses the right combination of the two key ingredients for a likely beat in its next quarterly report.
Home Depot's (HD) Q1 results reflect the impacts of the late start of spring and continued soft demand for some discretionary projects, which weighed on sales. Higher costs hurt the bottom line.