Home Depot's Post-Hurricane Boom Comes at Expense of Profit
- Storms boost chain’s same-store sales but squeeze margins
- Hurricane revenue expected to increase in this quarter
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Home Depot Inc. saw sales surge in the wake of this year’s barrage of hurricanes, but the storms still took a toll on the retailer’s bottom line.
Even as cleanup and rebuilding efforts helped the chain’s sales top analysts’ estimates, expenses related to the storms reduced operating profit by $51 million. Customers stocked up on less profitable plywood and generators during the natural disasters and that narrowed margins, the company said.