Home Depot Inc. reacted to the rapid spread of Covid-19 in the U.S. by canceling annual sales events and pulling many marked-down goods off the shelves to keep crowds away from stores. But rather than a drop in traffic, amid lockdowns and social distancing, customers began flocking to its physical and online stores, spending stay-at-home savings and government stimulus checks on home-improvement projects.
In August, the Atlanta-based company posted its strongest quarterly sales growth in nearly 20 years, with May-to-July revenue…