Shares of Hornbach have seen little benefit from the rally of the past few weeks. Since the beginning of November, the holding company’s paper has been trading around 10 percent higher, but compared to the start of the year, the title has dropped more than 20 percent (as of December 20th, around 10 am).

In the third quarter, the DIY chain’s revenue fell slightly due to the weak economy. In contrast, the bottom line profit increased. Hornbach confirmed the targets for the fiscal year 2022/2023, which had been cut a few months ago – but the lower costs give hope.

This is how Q3 went for Hornbach In the third quarter of the current fiscal year, Hornbach Holding achieved sales of around 1.485 billion euros, 4 percent less than in the same quarter of the previous year – after 9 months, the sales decrease is almost 2 percent.

However, lower costs and purchase prices ensured that the EBIT in Q3 was slightly above that of the same period of the previous year at 49.5 million euros. Even after nine months, the company made a profit of almost 10 percent more with nearly 29 million euros. Both figures show a steep decline in the balance sheet.

It was only in September that Hornbach had cut its targets for the current year. These were confirmed with the current quarterly report: sales are expected to be slightly lower than the previous year. The earnings forecast was specified – Hornbach expects a adjusted EBIT in the „middle to lower range of (…) range“ from minus 10 to minus 25 percent compared to 2022/2023.

Hornbach-Aktie: Waiting for the economic boost In the current environment, the DIY chain and the Hornbach-Aktie have it difficult. Consumer reticence is palpable and is putting pressure on sales. Here, the company is hoping for a recovery in the next fiscal year. On the other hand, good cost management gives investors and analysts hope.

So Warburg Research confirmed its optimistic vote after the publication of the Q3 figures and kept the target price at a hefty 98 euros. Miracles are not to be expected from the Hornbach-Aktie for the time being. However, if sales increase again and costs are kept in check, the paper still has catch-up potential.