Standard & Poor's said today that Home Depot Inc.'s (AA/Stable/A-1+) authorization to repurchase up to $2 billion of common stock has no immediate impact on the company's credit rating or outlook. Standard & Poor's does not believe this action represents a change in the company's conservative financial policy. Home Depot ended its first quarter of fiscal 2002 with almost $5 billion of cash on its balance sheet, a portion of which is expected to fund stock repurchases. The company is expected to slow store growth, and continue to focus on improving working capital management and other operating efficiencies.
