Well, Thanksgiving weekend is now in the history books once more, and on Cyber Monday, we get to examine some of the aftermath of that long shopping weekend. As it turns out, the numerous protests aimed at home improvement giant Home Depot (HD) may have worked, though just how well is unclear. With more protests potentially coming, the picture just got a bit murkier. But investors are undaunted here, and shares of Home Depot gained nearly 1.5% in Monday morning’s trading.
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The protests went on through Black Friday and into the weekend at some locations, reports noted, with a Torrance, California Home Depot getting hit particularly hard. Reports noted that demonstrators were on hand not only outside the store, but inside as well. Those demonstrators took their appeals directly to shoppers, calling on them to shop somewhere else.
The protests were hampered somewhat, though, by news of an Afghani national going on a shooting spree in Washington, D.C., followed by a set of new restrictions on immigration from the Trump administration. Thus, the protesters’ message was watered down somewhat by having to explain their position in the light of it actually costing American lives.
The Tiny House in Aisle Three
It is not out of line to go to a home improvement store and, looking around you, realize all the interesting things you could do with your home space with all these materials. Assuming, of course, you have the wherewithal to buy them and the talent to actually do the job.
But that is where things get interesting, as a group known as Cheeky Boyos—Coy Wickey and Brian O’Donnell—got together and, somehow, managed to build an entire tiny house inside an aisle at a Home Depot near them. It was indeed a tiny house—about the size of a doghouse, reports noted—but using Home Depot’s stock of plywood, screws and hinges, they built the house in question. They bought the materials, of course—they did not just start building with stock pulled off the shelves—and brought their tools with them. But the end result was still very much a little house, and very much a feat of which Home Depot’s marketing department should take note.
Is Home Depot a Good Long-Term Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on HD stock based on 18 Buys, five Holds and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 16.4% loss in its share price over the past year, the average HD price target of $409 per share implies 13.03% upside potential.
