Most of us are familiar with National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Specifically, Clark’s decorating in the yard, featuring “25,000 Italian twinkle lights.” Well, the Gaines family—Chip, Joanna, et al—almost managed to outdo Clark…with one tree. And they turned to home improvement giant Home Depot (HD) to pull it off. This was quite the accomplishment, and gave investors reason to cheer. Said investors sent Home Depot shares up fractionally in Wednesday morning’s trading.
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It is little surprise that the Gaines family of Fixer Upper fame went all-out for Christmas. But they did so in a fashion that would make even Clark Griswold’s eyes pop. While Clark put 25,000 lights on his house, Joanna and Chip put 20,000 lights on their Christmas tree. And they turned to Home Depot for the lights in question, reports note.
Of course, this was a huge tree—one that required an entire team to carry in and set up—and required a lot of lights to cover. Home Depot’s incandescent mini string lights filled in, with 70-foot lengths offering as many as 300 bulbs per string, the Gaines family coated the tree in lights, producing not so much a Christmas tree as a collection of points of light in a Christmas tree shape. These same lights are available to those who want them in smaller quantities, and reports note they are even on sale.
Prepare for Camping Season
And for those getting ready for camping season in another six to eight months, Home Depot will have you covered there as well. One great possible tool will be available inexpensively to provide security for your campsite. Here, I refer to a simple cable lock.
A cable lock is basically just that, a cable with a built-in combination locking mechanism. The cable can be wound around multiple items and secured to something inherently immovable like a large tree or stone picnic table to help keep items on the campsite. It is one thing to walk off with a bike or a grill, but a bike or grill attached to a giant oak is a much tougher ask.
Is Home Depot a Good Long-Term Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on HD stock based on 17 Buys, five Holds and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 12.7% loss in its share price over the past year, the average HD price target of $401.85 per share implies 15.66% upside potential.
