If you’ve spotted towering 12-foot skeletons with glowing eyes popping up in front yards recently, you’ve met Skelly—the Halloween icon that has become a cult favorite for spooky season fans across the U.S. This year, Home Depot (HD) has announced Skelly’s return, this time with an entire “skeleton crew” to keep him company.
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At the center of the lineup is the original Skelly, featuring poseable arms and Home Depot’s signature “LCD LifeEyes” technology, which allows the character to blink, stare, and even flash hearts or flames from its sockets.
Home Depot’s skeleton promo has become more than a seasonal decoration—it’s a virally mediated phenomenon that draws fans to Home Depot stores each September and typically sells out within days. It appears that by tapping into the cultural popularity of its Halloween lineup, the retailer continues to strengthen its brand presence beyond its core home improvement products.
For investors, HD’s PR stunt is just that, a stunt. While plastic skeletons may dominate headlines, HD investors are zoning in on a different story: the company’s stock performance over the past year. HD stock is up 11.4% year-over-year, trading ~$405 compared with roughly $350 last September. During the year, HD’s Q2 sales rose 5% to $45 billion, indicating buoyant demand. Bolstering this year’s performance was last year’s acquisition of SRS, which exceeded analyst expectations and drove “market-leading growth and revenue synergies,” according to Home Depot. This year, HD is set to acquire specialty building products distributor GMS (GMS).
Despite market resistance and all the goodwill cheer, HD stock has faced a topsy-turvy ride, slipping below $400 early in 2025 as concerns about slowing housing activity and consumer spending weighed on sentiment. However, a series of sturdy quarterly calls, strict cost discipline, and ongoing demand for renovation projects have enabled the stock to stage a sustained recovery since July, as TipRanks data shows.
Home Depot shares are up 5.5% year-to-date in 2025, outperforming the S&P 500’s Consumer Discretionary sector, which has gained 3.29%. The stock has also benefited from expectations of a dovish Federal Reserve, with potential rate cuts later this year seen as a catalyst for housing activity—a critical driver of both DIY and professional demand for building supplies.
For now, shareholders are willing to give Home Depot credit for navigating a challenging retail environment while maintaining profitability and shareholder returns. The retailer’s seasonal success with viral products like Skelly adds a unique brand-building angle, generating viral buzz and drawing younger consumers into stores, as well as creating the “keeping up with the Joneses” effect.
With Americans unlikely to forget modern tradition anytime soon, and Halloween approaching fast, Skelly and his crew may haunt front yards across America—but for shareholders, the bigger story is Home Depot’s resilience in a volatile retail landscape and a stock that has quietly outperformed many peers (and the broader market) over the past year.
What is the Future Price of HD Stock?
On Wall Street, Home Depot enjoys a Strong Buy consensus, supported by 19 Buy ratings and six Holds in the past three months, with no analysts recommending a Sell. HD stock carries an average price target of $445.73—suggesting ~10% upside over the next year.
