Home Depot, after years of explosive growth, cuts its outlook as Americans cool spending on homes

In this Sept. 3, 2014 file photo, a sign greets visitors at the Home Depot corporate headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

After years of explosive growth during the pandemic, Home Depot’s revenue during the first quarter fell short of expectations and the Atlanta company cut its profit and sales outlook for the year, sending shares skidding before the opening bell Tuesday.

It was a rough start to a busy week of retail earnings and the numbers from the nation’s biggest home improvement chain dragged down retail stocks as well as the Dow.

For the three months ended April 30, revenue dropped to $37.26 billion from last year’s $38.91 billion, and it was short of the $38.45 billion projected by analysts polled by Zacks Investment Research.