Home Depot reported fiscal second-quarter results Tuesday morning that beat Wall Street expectations, sending shares about 1.5% higher to $340.80 ahead of the open. The home-improvement retailer posted adjusted earnings per share of $4.92, topping the consensus estimate of $4.73 by $0.19. Revenue came in at $47.86 billion, above the $47.23 billion forecast, with sales rising 5.6% year over year.
Comparable sales increased 1.7%, well above the 0.7% estimate. Net income reached $4.8 billion, up 4% from a year earlier. CFO Richard McPhail said the company saw “broad based demand across the business as customers continued to engage in smaller projects.”
Expectations heading into the report were modest. The housing affordability crisis has slowed the number of Americans moving, reducing the major renovation spending that typically drives Home Depot growth. Foot traffic per location and overall visits both fell in the second quarter, according to Placer.ai. There was also management uncertainty after CEO Ted Decker announced a medical leave of absence last week.
Before the earnings beat, Home Depot stock was down about 17% over the past 12 months and 1.8% year-to-date through Monday’s close at $337.88. The average analyst price target sat near $378, roughly 13% above the pre-earnings price, and just over half of analysts tracked by FactSet remained bullish.
Home Depot reaffirmed its full-year 2026 outlook, guiding for total sales growth of 2.5% to 4.5% and adjusted EPS of $14.69, which represents flat to roughly 4% growth. In the 90 days before the report, analysts had issued 12 positive and 16 negative EPS revisions, reflecting caution heading into the print. Last quarter, revenue was $41.77 billion, up 4.8% year over year, with a narrow EPS beat but a slight gross margin miss.
The broader home furnishing and improvement retail group has recently offered mixed but mostly encouraging signals. Floor and Decor posted 3% revenue growth and beat estimates by 1.6%, while Arhaus reported 7.4% revenue growth and topped estimates by 4.9%, sending its stock up 16.6%.
