Walmart, Home Depot show consumer still resilient: Analyst

02/21/2024 01:31
Walmart, Home Depot show consumer still resilient: Analyst

Walmart (WMT) saw major upsides to consistent sales growth, as outlined in its fourth-quarter earnings beat. Home Depot (HD), on the other hand, cited sales declines and a weakened full-year outlook in its latest earnings results. Are the earnings performances of these major retail chains indicative of any trends seen in the US consumer? D.A. Davidson Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst Michael Baker joins Yahoo Finance to discuss consumer resiliency seen across the past year. "It seems like the idea of a recession is a little less on the table now than it was because consumer spending was pretty strong throughout 2023. Slowing certainly from the pandemic years but held in pretty strong," Baker explains. "Walmart had a pretty strong holiday season. Home Depot remains negative and that's more a function of, I think, housing trends but less negative than they have been. We're sort of leveling off... in terms of consumer spending." For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live. Editor's note: This article was written by Luke Carberry Mogan.

Walmart (WMT) saw major upsides to consistent sales growth, as outlined in its fourth-quarter earnings beat. Home Depot (HD), on the other hand, cited sales declines and a weakened full-year outlook in its latest earnings results. Are the earnings performances of these major retail chains indicative of any trends seen in the US consumer?

D.A. Davidson Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst Michael Baker joins Yahoo Finance to discuss consumer resiliency seen across the past year.

"It seems like the idea of a recession is a little less on the table now than it was because consumer spending was pretty strong throughout 2023. Slowing certainly from the pandemic years but held in pretty strong," Baker explains. "Walmart had a pretty strong holiday season. Home Depot remains negative and that's more a function of, I think, housing trends but less negative than they have been. We're sort of leveling off... in terms of consumer spending."

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.

Editor's note: This article was written by Luke Carberry Mogan.

Read more --->