The Do-It-Yourself Home-Improvement Boom Is Over
Stanley Black & Decker slashed its 2022 earnings guidance nearly in half as the pandemic surge in house repair and renovation projects fades.
From hot to not.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
The pandemic boom in do-it-yourself home improvement projects is officially over.
Stanley Black & Decker Inc. on Thursday chopped its 2022 earnings guidance nearly in half, citing a significant slowdown in consumer demand for power tools beginning in late May and accelerating through June. Volumes in the tool business collapsed 16% in the second quarter, and Stanley now expects retail purchases to ease back toward 2019 levels, before pandemic lockdowns inspired homeowners to tackle fix-it projects and renovations. Stanley has aggressively raised prices on its tools in recent months to offset the impact of inflation and supply chain disruptions, but as recently as April, the company indicated it was running into little pushback. That’s no longer the case: Tools are ultimately a discretionary purchase, and consumers are balking at the higher costs as bills on essential items such as food and gas have climbed, Chief Executive Officer Donald Allan said on a call Thursday to discuss the results.