Home Depot Reports Q2 Beat, Reaffirms Full-Year Guidance Amid Small-Project Demand
The home improvement retailer posted second-quarter earnings of $4.79 per share, up from $4.58 a year earlier, as customers continued engaging in smaller projects.
Quarterly Performance Exceeds Expectations
The Home Depot, Inc. reported second-quarter fiscal 2026 sales of $47.9 billion, representing an increase of $2.6 billion, or 5.7%, compared to the same period last year, according to an 8-K filing submitted August 18, 2026. Comparable sales for the quarter rose 1.7%, with U.S. comparable sales increasing 1.3% (8-K filing, 2026-08-18).
Net earnings reached $4.8 billion, or $4.79 per diluted share, compared with $4.6 billion, or $4.58 per diluted share, in the second quarter of fiscal 2025. On an adjusted basis, diluted earnings per share came in at $4.92, up from $4.68 in the prior-year period (8-K filing, 2026-08-18).
"Our second quarter results exceeded our expectations. We saw broad based demand across the business as customers continued to engage in smaller projects," said Richard McPhail, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (8-K filing, 2026-08-18).
Transaction Dynamics and Average Ticket Growth
While customer transactions declined 0.8% to 443.2 million during the quarter, the average ticket increased 2.8% to $92.50, indicating customers are spending more per visit despite fewer overall trips (8-K filing, 2026-08-18). The comparable average ticket rose 2.8%, while comparable customer transactions decreased 1.0% (8-K filing, 2026-08-18).
Operating income for the quarter totaled $6.8 billion, up 4.3% from $6.6 billion in the prior-year period. However, selling, general and administrative expenses increased 8.5% to $8.4 billion (8-K filing, 2026-08-18).
Fiscal 2026 Guidance Maintained
The company reaffirmed its full-year fiscal 2026 guidance, projecting total sales growth of approximately 2.5% to 4.5% and comparable sales growth of approximately flat to 2.0%. The guidance incorporates expected IEEPA tariff refunds, which are anticipated to partially offset unplanned fuel, energy, and other product input costs throughout the fiscal year (8-K filing, 2026-08-18).
Home Depot expects gross margin of approximately 33.1% and adjusted operating margin of approximately 12.8% to 13.0%. The company forecasts adjusted diluted earnings-per-share to grow approximately flat to 4.0% from $14.69 in fiscal 2025, with an effective tax rate of approximately 24.3% and net interest expense of approximately $2.3 billion (8-K filing, 2026-08-18).
Capital expenditures are projected at approximately 2.5% of total sales, with plans to open approximately 15 new stores during the fiscal year (8-K filing, 2026-08-18).
Balance Sheet and Operations
As of August 2, 2026, the retailer operated 2,364 retail stores and over 1,340 SRS locations across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, 10 Canadian provinces and Mexico, employing over 470,000 associates (8-K filing, 2026-08-18).
For the six-month period, net cash provided by operating activities totaled $11.4 billion, compared to $9.0 billion in the prior-year period, while capital expenditures remained essentially flat at $1.7 billion (8-K filing, 2026-08-18).
MarginX data shows Home Depot is scheduled to report third-quarter fiscal 2027 results on November 17, 2026.
This article was generated by MarginX from the 8-K filing on 2026-08-18. It is not investment advice.