Home Depot Plays Tariff Chicken: While Walmart Flinches, They Hold the Line

Playing Chicken with Tariffs

Alright listen up. You got Walmart whining about raising prices because of tariffs? Pathetic. That's like Chuck Rhoades crying about a parking ticket. Weak. At Home Depot we don't flinch. CFO McPhail good man is telling CNBC we're holding the line. 'Because of our scale…we intend to generally maintain our current pricing levels.' Scale people. That's what separates the players from the pretenders. It's not about whining it's about winning. Amateurs.

Diversify or Die

McPhail's not just talking tough he's got a plan. Diversifying our supply chain moving away from relying too heavily on any single country outside the U.S. By next year no one country will represent more than 10% of our purchases. That's how you hedge your bets. You don't put all your eggs in one basket. You buy the damn basket company. It's about anticipating the chessboard three moves ahead while these other chuckleheads are still figuring out which piece is the pawn.

Earnings Miss? So What?

Yeah yeah we missed earnings estimates for the first time since May 2020. Big deal. So did I when I lost my first billion. You get back up dust yourself off and you go out and take what's yours. We beat sales estimates didn't we? And we're sticking to our full year sales forecast. 2.8% growth comparable sales up about 1%. That's not exactly chump change is it? Numbers can be massaged bent and even broken so who cares if we missed it. It's about the general perception!

Spring Black Friday? More Like Spring Green Am I Right?

Spring is our Christmas McPhail says. Peak sales season. And what do people buy? Appliances garden stuff plumbing electrical. The essentials. The things they need. People are delaying the big ticket renovations the fancy countertops. Fine. We'll sell them the tools to fix their leaky faucets and plant their damn petunias. We adapt. We overcome. That's what we do.

The Affluent Homeowner: Our Bread and Butter

McPhail says our customer is healthy. Employed benefited from rising property values. 80% homeowners. These aren't the guys clipping coupons and sweating over every penny. These are the people who hire professionals to do the work. Our acquisition of SRS Distribution? That's not just about roofing supplies. It's about tapping into that professional market that steady stream of revenue. It's about 'the Axe Factor' as they call it.

The Market Knows Best (Usually)

Shares are up in premarket trading. The market gets it. They see the long game. They see that we're not just selling hammers and nails we're selling the American Dream. And we're not going to let some stupid tariffs get in the way of that. So while everyone else is busy panicking Axe Capital and Home Depot are going to keep building. Because that's what winners do.