Hurricane Harvey Damage Should Boost Sales at Home Depot and Lowe’s

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) should produce stronger-than-projected sales in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, especially after the company’s management reported in a recent earnings call that its financial performance in the first half of 2017 had topped expectations.

While the hearts and prayers of people far and wide go out to all of those affected by the storm, it is likely that this catastrophic weather will boost the financial performance of both Home Depot and Lowe’s (NYSE:LOW) in the second half of this year as affected residences and businesses are repaired in the weeks and months ahead. Even though Lowe’s shares fell nearly 3.1% to an intraday low of $70.76 on Aug. 23 after the company posted weaker-than-forecasted second-quarter fiscal 2017 results, it rebounded to top $74.50 on Aug. 31 after the storm.

Ironically, the management of Lowe’s (NYSE:LOW) said during its recent earnings call that the first half of the year was not as good as expected. That report caused Lowe’s management to reduce the number of stores it planned to open during the year from 35 to 25 and cut its own full year financial guidance.

Despite what both Home Depot and Lowe’s management teams thought just a few weeks ago, their full year predictions and forecasts now will need to be adjusted to factor in the effects of Hurricane Harvey. For example, as early as Sunday, Aug. 27, both brands had locations in Houston open and selling large volumes of small ticket items such as bottled water, tarps and straps, as well as larger ticket items such as fans, blowers, air conditioning units and, of course, generators.