While home improvement giant Home Depot (HD) has been the scene of a lot of noteworthy events of late, from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids to protests of various stripes, one potentially even more noteworthy event hit a Home Depot in San Antonio: a live DJ set. File it under “strange but true,” this event caught attention and even sparked some concern. But Home Depot investors rolled with the punch, and sent shares up fractionally in Friday morning’s trading.
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Caught by another DJ out in the field, video emerged of a second, different DJ who got on top of a pile of wood planks, set up a turntable on a tool storage chest, and began to play the 1996 track Escandalo by La Sonora Dinamita. Comments ranged from plans to turn the power tool section into a rave to some believing it was the “…funniest thing I ever saw that day.”
Others, however, believed that the music might well lure in the kind of people who would find themselves targeted by ICE raids. That prompted some to wonder if this was a deliberately-staged trap. But Home Depot stuck to its guns, insisting that it was not coordinating with ICE or Border Patrol, and that it was legally constrained from interfering in their operations in any way.
Gadget Haven
Beyond the sudden DJ appearances, Home Depot also rolled out some new gadgets that were not specifically power tools, but would likely be welcome in some situations. This is a solid development; while Home Depot concentrates heavily on home improvement, sometimes improving the home is as easy as adding a new feature.
For instance, it brought out a new battery-operated outdoor security camera from Arlo (ARLO), as well as the XGIMI MoGo DLP portable projector for those considering some outdoor movies this summer. Finally, Ryobi (RYBIF) brought out a new power source / charger system for those battery-driven tools. Not only will it charge batteries, but it can also use those batteries as a power source for, for example, that aforementioned projector.
Is Home Depot a Good Long-Term Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on HD stock based on 16 Buys, five Holds and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 4.71% loss in its share price over the past year, the average HD price target of $410.22 per share implies 4.26% upside potential.
