Atlanta — Atlanta-based Home Depot reported a drop of 5.8 percent in customer transactions in its fiscal second quarter that ended in August 2021, but the average ticket of customer sales was 11.3 percent larger than last year. As people go back to working in an office after working from home since the beginning of the pandemic, fewer shoppers visited Home Depot during the fiscal second quarter due to less interest in do-it-yourself projects, according to CNBC.
The home improvement retailer reported $41.1 billion in sales during its fiscal second quarter, which was 8.1 percent higher than the same period in 2020. Last year, the retailer’s revenue was approximately $38.05 billion. According to a Refinitiv survey, the retailer’s second-quarter revenue was higher than what Wall Street expected at $40.79 billion. Additionally, Home Depot’s earnings per share was $4.53, which was higher than the $4.44 expected by Wall Street.
Home Depot’s same-store sales are up 3.4 percent from the second quarter of 2020 to the second quarter of 2021 but it’s less than the 25 percent jump from the second quarter of 2019 to the same period in 2020. Home Depot’s stock price closed on Wednesday, Aug. 18 at $321.55 per share, up from $287.46 a year ago, a 11.86 percent jump.