Home Depot Inc (NYSE: HD) is a home improvement company that has more than 2,200 stores across North America. Since its launch in 1978, it has taken the concept of your neighborhood hardware store to a new level.

But with its growth also comes expectations. Its $216 billion market cap dwarfs its competition, yet when bad news creeps in, it can get hit harder than its peers simply because it’s seen as a market leader.

That’s what happened when it reported Q1 earnings a couple weeks ago.

Same-store sales were up, and earnings and revenue were up — just not as much as analysts expected.

The True Issue for HD Stock

But here is where the story gets a bit more interesting. Analysts saw the miss as a reflection of deeper, long-term issues. They’re reasoning was, after the big corporate tax cuts and the one-time bonuses given to some workers, HD should have seen increased spending in its stores. Because it didn’t, it means it’s not a retailer of choice when consumers have a few extra dollars in their pockets.

They especially pointed to the fact that HD gave its own workers a $1,000 bonus.

Now, let’s break this down before we move on.

HD employs around 400,000 workers — not all are full-time nor did all of them receive a maximum bonus. HD generated about $100 billion in revenue in 2017. Did analysts think that HD workers were going to sink their bonuses into HD products?

Generally speaking, these workers aren’t making the kind of money Wall Street analysts make. And $1,000 doesn’t go as far as it used to. To boost HD earnings expectations because retail workers got small bonuses is hardly why these analysts get paid the big bucks.

What was HD’s explanation for the lower-than-expected numbers?

Its gardening division.

That may sound as bizarre as the analysts expectations, but it makes more sense and can be seen in the quarterly numbers.

Because spring was late in coming to much of the country, it slowed its lawn and garden sales. Remember, a riding lawnmower can run from $1,000, up, not including accessories. These are big-ticket items that come along with spring. There’s also gas grills, fencing, seed, fertilizer, etc.

If that’s delayed a month or so, that is going to be an issue for revenue.

And that is also borne out in HD’s same-store sales numbers. It posted a respectable 4.2% for the quarter. But excluding the lawn and garden department, same-store sales would have been up 6.5%.

You can stick with the analysts or stick with the numbers on this one. Given the fact that HD stock has tread water this year because of interest rates and now this debate over Q1 returns, I’d say Home Depot is a great buy here before the analysts admit they’re wrong.

Louis Navellier is a renowned growth investor. He is the editor of four investing newsletters: Growth Investor, Breakthrough Stocks, Accelerated Profits and Platinum Growth. His most popular service, Growth Investor, has a track record of beating the market 3:1 over the last 14 years. He uses a combination of quantitative and fundamental analysis to identify market-beating stocks. Mr. Navellier has made his proven formula accessible to investors via his free, online stock rating tool, PortfolioGrader.com. Louis Navellier may hold some of the aforementioned securities in one or more of his newsletters.