Home improvement giant Home Depot (HD) managed to find an incredible new promotion that resonated so hard with investors they are vibrating in their seats. They took their cues from a similar promotion from a much more likely source, but it seems to be working here too. It is called “Halfway to Halloween,” and shareholders love it, based on the over 5% jump in share prices seen in Wednesday morning’s trading.
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Home Depot is taking advantage of the fact that April is the fourth month of the year, and that spooky season kicks off in almost precisely six months from right now. The “Halfway to Halloween” limited collection is now in Home Depot stores, and features some new attractions.
The first, and perhaps biggest, upgrade is the new version of Skelly, the 12-foot skeleton figure that catches attention and drives buyers well in advance. The new Skelly will let users record lines via a mobile app, complete with voice modulation. New Skelly will not go up for sale just yet, though. However, a nine-foot LED T-Rex is reportedly in play, as is an 8.5-foot LED knight and a 6.5-foot LED snowman. The snowman might be a bit of a low blow, given how many remember actual snow as a recent thing.
A Growing Trend?
This is where things get a bit weird. This is not the first time I have heard of a “Halfway to Halloween” promotion in recent memory. The first time made much more sense, though, as it was for AMC Networks’ (AMCX) horror-themed streaming channel, Shudder.
Shudder is bringing out some new movies for the event, including Shudder original Dolly, as well as Somnium, Night Patrol, a remake of the eighties fantasy flick Deathstalker, and Last Drive-In special Joe Bob’s Wicked Witchy Wingding. Shudder will also welcome a slate of new arrivals, or rather, arrivals that are new to the platform as some go back to the eighties themselves. It all raises a larger question about why so many people seem so eager to get back to Halloween. For Shudder it makes sense; Halloween is prime time for a horror-themed streamer. But for Home Depot? It has all of patio season to work through. So why fire up interest in giant lawn decorations?
Is Home Depot a Good Long-Term Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on HD stock based on 17 Buys and three Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 10.3% loss in its share price over the past year, the average HD price target of $425.06 per share implies 26.52% upside potential.
