“Pretty Privilege” Tests Send Home Depot Stock (NYSE:HD) Slumping

Home improvement giant Home Depot HD -1.56% ▼ has found itself on the bad end of politics more than once, especially recently with the ongoing issues generated by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) branch. But politics may be about to hit Home Depot in a whole new way as a woman decided to test Home Depot’s accommodations based on “pretty privilege.” The results were unexpected, and investors seemed pretty unhappy about the whole situation. Home Depot shares were down over 1.5% in Thursday morning’s trading.

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Caroline Ricka, a TikTok content creator, took to Home Depot in two separate outfits. One, as an “off-duty model” in a black dress, and later, dressed more like a “boy” in a sweatshirt and basketball shorts. Her original hypothesis was that she would draw more attention in the dress than in the sweatshirt / shorts combination. This would underscore “pretty privilege,” the notion that more attractive people get better treatment in retail.

What Ricka actually found, though, was different. It turned out that more people were talking to her in the “dressed down” look, directly contradicting her hypothesis. Some pointed out that her “dressed down” look seemed more appropriate for someone engaged in home improvement projects, while others pointed out she had tainted the pool to begin with by being followed around by a cameraman.

Give Me Back My Bitcoin

Meanwhile, down in Memphis, Tennessee, a retired man went to buy a simple $10 item, and asked an employee for help in finding it. The man pointed out the item on his phone, but the employee asked to see the phone itself, reports noted. Then, the employee climbed a stepladder to get “better cell service,” and upon coming back down, returned the phone.

The man noted that, while the employee was on the stepladder, said employee managed to transfer $500 in Bitcoin (BTC-USD) out of the man’s Coinbase COIN -1.28% ▼ account, deleting the confirmation emails to cover up the theft. The employee was subsequently fired, and the customer wanted reimbursement. Home Depot reps promised a response, but no response followed. Home Depot claims it is reviewing the matter.

Is Home Depot a Good Long-Term Buy?

Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on HD stock based on 17 Buys and three Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 0.36% rally in its share price over the past year, the average HD price target of $422.95 per share implies 23.42% upside potential.

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