11:30 AM EDT, 05/14/2024 (MT Newswires) -- CFRA, an independent research provider, has provided MT Newswires with the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows:

Our 12-month target of $337, down $1, is 22x our FY 25 (Jan.) EPS view of $15.32 (down $0.04; FY 26's down $0.19 to $16.36), a slight discount to the 21.4x five-year forward P/E average. FQ1 (Apr.) EPS of $3.63 (-5.1% Y/Y) beat by $0.03 on revenue of $36.4B (-2.3% Y/Y), $230M below consensus. Comparable sales declined 2.8% Y/Y on a transaction decline of 1.3% and ticket decline of 1.5%. Pro and Do-It-Yourself were relatively in line with each other, but negative. Sales were impacted by a slow start to the spring selling season and big-ticket softness (-6.5% Y/Y). Building Materials and Power departments posted positive comps. EBIT margin of 13.9% (-100 bps) was due to a gross margin jump of 40 bps and a 140-bp operating expense advance. HD reiterated FY 25 guidance as the company feels confident about the spring selling season and its operational execution. We think HD has room to flex its operational muscle, but it will be limited by sales as we do not see rate cuts translating to meaningful demand in FY 25.