Neutral While internet retail moved to the mainstream more than a decade ago, it continues to capture the lion's share of retail growth and investors' imaginations along with it. Further, the philosophy of "profits don…
Overweight It has paid handsomely to be overweight the S&P home improvement retail index over the past year. However, the last few months have seen a significant step upward in valuation (top panel), we think with good reason.…
U.S. home sales have been soaring, with new single-family homes reaching a 10-year high in September, driven by still-low financing costs and peaking consumer sentiment. This surging housing demand which includes temporary hurricane…
The National Association of Home Builders released their housing market index (HMI) which, while still high, took a step downward. Importantly, the softness in the HMI had already commenced earlier in the summer prior to the…
Overweight As the concern over hurricanes Harvey & Irma related catastrophes transitions to repair & rebuilding, it is worth examining the home improvement retail (HIR) space. HIR stocks have barely budged since the hurricanes…
Highlights Financial markets have slipped into a 'risk off' phase. The upbeat second quarter earnings season in the U.S., Japan and the Eurozone was overwhelmed by a number of negative events. Equity bear markets are usually…
Overweight Amidst a slew of weak retail earnings reports in Q2, HD surprised with a positive result as it benefited from a surge in remodeling activity. Existing home prices are pushing against highs, which benefits home improvement…
In what is becoming a familiar refrain, Amazon announced they were entering an established business and the existing competitors saw their share prices tumble. This time it was appliance retail and manufacturers with the deployment…