After a nearly 20 percent sell-off from its January high to April low, Home Depot shares are crawling back toward their record.
Mark Tepper, president and CEO of Strategic Wealth Partners, said the home improvement retailer looks strong into its earnings report Tuesday. Here's what he told CNBC's "Trading Nation" this week:
• Home Depot's first quarter was really disappointing – which Tepper attributes to colder weather, causing consumers to postpone home improvement projects — but he expects the company to have rebounded nicely in the second quarter.
• Tepper notes the consumer has been showing signs of strength lately, which should boost spending and help retail stocks. The XRT retail ETF is at a 52-week high.
• Consumers can either build or they can improve their current home. The issue with building is that the cost to build has far outpaced existing home appreciations, so that's an even less affordable option for the consumer. That leads Tepper to believe that more consumers are going to stay put in their current homes and focus on remodeling projects. Home Depot and Lowe's would be the beneficiaries of that trend.
• While the consensus estimate for earnings is $2.84, Tepper expects Home Depot to top that and end up right around $2.86.
• Tepper will watch several metrics in the report on Tuesday. He hopes to see top-line growth rebound and beat estimates; he also hopes to hear confirmation that Home Depot is benefiting from the current state of the housing market, mortgage rates and the health of the consumer.
Home Depot was trading around $196.90 midday Friday.
