Home Depot will report earnings before the open Tuesday, May 15
Home improvement retailer Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) is down 0.7% at $287.08 at last check. Next week will be a big one for the stock, with the company's first-quarter earnings report due before the market opens Tuesday, May 15.
Home Depot stock has closed lower the day after four of the company's past eight quarterly outings, including a 7.1% dip following its February report. Overall, the shares have averaged a 4.1% move the day after reporting, regardless of direction. This time around, the options market is pricing in a 5.5% swing for Wednesday's trading.
HD is underperforming the broader market, down 9.1% in 2023 versus the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust's (SPY) 7.6% lead over the same time frame. The shares' post-earnings bear gap pushed it below its 300-day moving average, a trendline that just rejected HD's most recent rally attempt.
Despite this underperformance, data from the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) shows the Lowe's (LOW) competitor with a 50-day call/put volume ratio of 1.81, which ranks in the highest possible annual percentile. In other words, an unwinding of this optimism could send the shares lower after earnings.