The Home Depot, often simply known as Home Depot, is an American retailer that focuses on construction and home improvement products. It is the world’s largest home improvement retailer and the fourth largest retailer in the U.S.
The company was founded by Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank in 1978, the two had a vision to create one-stop shopping for the do-it-yourselfers. A one-stop shop is a place which caters for everything you want for a particular need.
The first Home Depot stores opened in Atlanta on June 22, 1979. At a size of 60,000 square feet each the stores were much larger than nearly all other hardware stores – wiping out any competition.
Home Depot went public on NASDAQ in 1981 and three years later it was moved to the New York Stock Exchange.
The stores were a huge success and in the 1990’s the company began to grow at a very fast rate. In fact, the company claims to be the fastest growing retailer in U.S. history.
Home Depot currently operates over 2,200 stores in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and China. Its stores are an average size of 105,000 square feet, with an additional 23,000 square feet of outside garden area.
The Home Depot, Inc. – Company Overview
- Chairman and CEO: Frank Blake
- Company headquarters: Atlanta, Georgia, US
- Employees: 340,000 (approximately)
- Type: Public
- Listed on NYSE as: HD
- S&P 500 Component
- Founded: 1978
- Founders: Bernard Marcus, Arthur Blank, Ron Brill, and Pat Farrah
- The company operates in the US, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, and China
The Home Depot, Inc. – Financial Results
| Key figures (in millions of USD except for share data) | 2013 | 2012 |
| Net sales | $78,812 | $74,754 |
| Gross profit | $27,390 | $25,842 |
| Operating income | $9,166 | $7,766 |
| Net earnings | $5,385 | $4,535 |
| Total assets | $40,518 | $41,084 |
| Earnings (loss) per share – basic | $3.78 | $3.03 |
| Earnings (loss) per share – diluted | $3.76 | $3.00 |
Frank Blake, chairman & CEO of Home Depot, commented on the results:
“In 2013, we posted our strongest comp sales growth in 14 years as solid execution and the recovering housing market aided our performance. I’d like to thank our associates for their hard work and commitment to our customers.”
He added:
“As a testament to our commitment to create value for our shareholders, the board increased the dividend for the fifth time in as many years. Increasing the dividend reflects our continued strategy to target a *dividend payout ratio of 50 percent.”
* A company’s dividend payout ratio is the proportion of net profits it pays out in dividends to its shareholders.
Home Depot News:
August 19, 2014: sales in the second quarter increased by 5.7% to $23.8 billion, while net earnings, at $2.1 billion ($1.52 per diluted share) also improved on Q2 2013’s $1.8 billion ($1.24 per diluted share). Diluted EPS increased by 22.6% in Q2 2014 compared to Q2 2013. Unlike most retailers, the do-it-yourself chain continues to report more customers shopping at its physical stores. It is also investing heavily in e-commerce.