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Investors in Home Depot (HD) stock were greeted by a surprise on Tuesday when CEO Ted Decker said he was taking a brief medical leave that will last a few months. The timing comes only days before the home improvement behemoth releases fiscal second-quarter results on Aug. 18.
But there is a key nuance here for investors. Decker has not resigned, and Home Depot has put in place two very experienced executives to split Decker's duties. Ann-Marie Campbell, senior executive vice president of U.S. stores and operations, will handle operations, while CFO Richard McPhail will handle finance and the company's Pro subsidiaries. For now, this looks more like a brief governance problem than a change to the underlying investment thesis on Home Depot.
