Home Depot Cuts Earnings Outlook

Atlanta, GA, July 10, 2007–Home Depot cut its 2007 earnings outlook, citing weakness in the housing market.

The company said it expected 2007 earnings per share to fall 15 percent to 18 percent from a year earlier, to a range of $2.30 to $2.36 per share. It  earned $2.79 per share in fiscal 2006.

Home Depot said it expected 2007 total retail sales to decline by 1 percent to 2 percent, and same-store sales to decline by mid-single digits.

The company said its updated targets reflect its HD Supply business as a discontinued operation. Its May forecast, which had included the business, had called for a 9-percent decline in annual profit.

Adjusted for the HD Supply business, the company’s earlier forecast had estimated a 15 percent decline in full-year profit to $2.36 per share.