Home Depot and Lowe’s dip after Oppenheimer warns on near-term weakness

Oppenheimer turned cautious on the home improvement sector on Monday with a downgrade on Home Depot (NYSE:HD) and Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW). The firm lowered its ratings on both stocks to Market Perform from Outperform on a more cautious, near-term stance towards home improvement retail in general.

Analyst Brian Nagel and team said they are fretting that shorter-term market positioning towards HD and LOW is turning too complacent. The view is that HD and LOW shares might not discount adequately for potential persistent fundamental weakness at the chains.

“Upcoming initial 2024 guidance from HD, LOW could prove unfavorable catalysts for shares. Investors looking to play prospects for strengthening trends in the sector, and at HD and LOW, beginning later in 2024, are likely to be presented better entry points, in coming weeks and months,” warned Nagel.

Oppenheimer assigned a price target of $345 to Home Depot (HD) and price target of $230 to Lowe’s (LOW).

Home Depot (HD) is not set to release its Q4 earnings report until February 20, while Lowe’s (LOW) is expected to announce earnings sometime during the last week of February. The Seeking Alpha Quant Rating on both stocks is set at Hold.

Shares of Home Depot (HD) slipped 0.80% in premarket trading on Monday and Lowe’s (LOW) shed 0.71%.