“The range implies flat to 2.5% comp. We expect that to be split evenly across Q3 and Q4.”

Why this grade

Management revised full-year comp guidance down to roughly flat, the bottom end of the prior flat-to-2.5% range, before the commitment period ended, moving the bar down from the implied midpoint of about 1.25%.

Deviation basis: percent of the guided midpoint comp growth of 1.25%

In context

“utious consumer affordability remains a pressure point that results in the lock-in effect that we've been seeing and also a depressed housing market. So similar to what we said at the beginning of the year and back in May, we expect the overall home improvement market to be flat for the full year that expectation continues. When you look at the first half results, we landed roughly where we expected outside tough weather early in Q2 where we started slower through Memorial Day holiday, but it accelerated as we move through July. Really nice almost 5% exit rate there. A portion of July comp was driven by the seasonal shift, but we also saw solid performance in both pro and DIY in Q2. So as we turn the page of the second half, our outlook really is unchanged since the beginning of the year. The range implies flat to 2.5% comp. We expect that to be split evenly across Q3 and Q4. And we expected gradual improvements in the underlying business as we move through the year and that's both on a one and two-year comp basis. And then we continue to expect to see benefits from our total home initiatives, total home strategy as that ramps across the back half of the year and that's both in the pro space and the DIY space. Marvin Ellison: And David, it's Marvin. Specific to pricing, we said in our previous earnings call that we would maintain a portfolio approach. We would be pricing competitive. And that's exactly what we've done in Q2. That's what we're continuing to do in the back half of the year. Prices in retail will always be dynamic. Your prices will fluctuate up and down through various categories based on competitive responses, internal algorithms. It's not like”