Home Depot, Inc. (HD)

Home Depot reported on 18 August 2026 that sales for the second quarter of its fiscal 2026 rose 5.7 percent to $47.9 billion 1. Comparable sales, which compare stores and websites open a year or more, rose 1.7 percent 1.

The average ticket rose 2.8 percent while the number of transactions fell 1.0 percent 2. Net earnings were $4.8 billion, up from $4.6 billion 1.

The company credits customers taking on smaller repair and maintenance projects, while housing affordability holds back bigger ones 2. It also began receiving refunds of tariffs paid under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which the Supreme Court struck down: about $730 million by 2 August, mostly booked as lower cost of goods 2. Higher fuel, energy and other input costs largely offset that benefit, so the gross margin, the share of sales left after the cost of goods, rose only to 33.7 percent from 33.4 percent 2.

The open question is leadership 4. On 12 August 2026 the company said Ted Decker, its chair and chief executive, was taking a temporary medical leave 4. Ann-Marie Campbell oversees daily operations, and the finance chief, Richard McPhail, is interim principal executive officer 4.

The company said it expects him back within the next few months, and neither its release nor press reports gave details of his condition 523. No later current report on file names his return 24. Third-quarter results are scheduled for release on 17 November 2026 21.

Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank were fired from the Handy Dan home improvement chain in April 1978 18. With money raised by the banker Ken Langone, they opened the first Home Depot stores in Atlanta in 1979 18. The idea was a one-stop shop for people doing their own projects 18.

The company was incorporated in Delaware in 1978, listed on the New York Stock Exchange in April 1984 and has paid a dividend every quarter since 1987 3.

By fiscal 2019, the year to early February 2020, sales were $110.2 billion from 2,291 stores 10. Then the pandemic sent people home to fix their houses: fiscal 2020 sales jumped 19.9 percent to $132.1 billion, and online sales grew about 86 percent 11. Shoppers bought more items per trip, and lumber inflation lifted the average ticket 11.

In December 2020 Home Depot bought HD Supply, a distributor of maintenance and repair supplies to apartment and hotel owners, for about $8 billion including its net cash 17. That business began as Maintenance Warehouse, which the company had first bought in 1997 3.

Demand stayed high in fiscal 2021, when sales rose 14.4 percent to $151.2 billion 12. Fiscal 2022 brought sales of $157.4 billion and net earnings of $17.1 billion 13. Ted Decker, a strategy and merchandising executive who joined in 2000, became chief executive in March 2022 3.

Then higher interest rates cooled home projects, and households shifted spending from goods to services 14. Fiscal 2023 sales fell 3.0 percent to $152.7 billion, and falling lumber prices cut the average ticket 14. Comparable sales fell again in fiscal 2024, by 1.8 percent, as high rates kept pressing on demand 15.

The company's answer was to buy its way deeper into supplying professional contractors, known in its filings as Pros 16. In March 2024 it agreed to buy SRS Distribution, a supplier to roofers, landscapers and pool contractors, for about $18.25 billion including debt, and closed on 18 June 2024 163. SRS added $6.4 billion of sales in fiscal 2024, a year with an extra 53rd week, and total sales reached $159.5 billion 15.

In September 2025 SRS completed the purchase of GMS, a distributor of drywall, ceilings and steel framing, for about $5.5 billion including debt repaid 3. Fiscal 2025 sales rose 3.2 percent to $164.7 billion, with the two deals adding about $6.3 billion, while comparable sales grew 0.3 percent 3. Net earnings slipped to $14.2 billion from $14.8 billion, as payroll, the write-down of acquired intangible assets and interest costs rose 3.

Building Materials

The largest of the three store product lines covers building materials, electrical, lumber, millwork and plumbing 3. It sold $52.4 billion in fiscal 2025, slightly less than the $52.9 billion of the year before 3.

Plumbing at $12.5 billion and the building materials department at $12.4 billion are its biggest departments, with lumber close behind at $11.4 billion 3. In the second quarter of fiscal 2026 the line sold $14.4 billion against $14.2 billion a year earlier 2.

Décor

Décor covers appliances, bath, flooring, kitchen and blinds, lighting and paint 3. It sold $51.7 billion in fiscal 2025, down from $52.5 billion, as flooring, lighting and paint sold less 3. Appliances, at $14.0 billion, are the single largest department in the stores 3.

Second-quarter sales of the line were $13.9 billion against $13.8 billion a year earlier 2.

Hardlines

Hardlines covers hardware, indoor and outdoor garden, power tools and equipment, and storage 3. It sold $47.8 billion in fiscal 2025, about level with the year before, and its Power department sold $13.2 billion 3. Second-quarter sales grew to $14.4 billion from $14.1 billion, the fastest of the three lines 2.

SRS, GMS and Mingledorff's

SRS sells to specialty trades from branches that deliver to the job site, and its sales are reported as Other: $12.7 billion in fiscal 2025, 7.7 percent of the total 3. Roofing products made up about 53 percent of it 3. With GMS on board, Other sales were $5.1 billion in the second quarter of fiscal 2026 against $3.1 billion, and roofing's share fell to about 39 percent 2.

On 11 May 2026 SRS bought Mingledorff's, a heating and air conditioning distributor in the southeastern U.S., for about $1.1 billion 2. It serves contractors from 42 locations and became the fifth line of business inside SRS, next to roofing, interiors, landscape and pool 202.

HD Supply and services

HD Supply sells maintenance and repair products to apartment, hotel, healthcare and government housing operators 3. In the stores, the company installs flooring, water heaters, cabinets, windows and other products for customers who hire the work out, and it rents tools and equipment 3.

Online and the stores

Online sales were 15.9 percent of sales in fiscal 2025 and rose 8.7 percent; in the second quarter of fiscal 2026 they were 16.6 percent and rose 11.0 percent 32. About half of U.S. online orders are fulfilled through a store 3. The company also offers AI tools such as Magic Apron, which answers product and project questions 3.

At the end of fiscal 2025 the company ran 2,359 stores: 2,035 in the U.S., 182 in Canada and 142 in Mexico 3. A store averages about 104,000 square feet plus a garden area, and the company owns 90 percent of its stores 3.

It also runs more than 500 distribution and fulfillment centers, almost all leased 3. By 2 August 2026 it had 2,364 stores and more than 1,340 SRS locations 1.

The people in charge

The company employed about 472,400 people at the end of fiscal 2025, about 422,500 of them in the U.S. 3. Ted Decker, 63, has been chief executive since March 2022 and is on medical leave 34. Ann-Marie Campbell, who started as a cashier in 1985, runs daily operations, and Richard McPhail, finance chief since September 2019, oversees finance and the Pro businesses 4.

In August 2026 three officers took on more 6. William Bastek added product development and private brands, Jordan Broggi added loyalty, credit and payments, and McPhail added an Office of Pro Acceleration that coordinates Home Depot Pro, HD Supply, SRS and Construction Resources 6.

Rivals

The market is fragmented, from hardware stores and lumber yards to online sellers and distributors 3. The closest rival, Lowe's, calls itself the world's second largest home improvement retailer, with 1,759 stores and $86.3 billion of sales in its fiscal 2025 22. Lowe's also bought two distributors in 2025, Foundation Building Materials and Artisan Design Group, to serve larger Pros 22.

Problems

The number of customer transactions keeps slipping: comparable transactions fell 1.0 percent in fiscal 2025 and again in the second quarter of fiscal 2026 32. Share repurchases have been paused since March 2024 while the company pays down the debt it took on for its deals 2. The company says no lawsuit it faces is expected to be material, and a 2021 federal consent decree over lead-safe work by its installers ended in fiscal 2025 3.

The umbrella, in words

The annual report's subsidiary list names the main companies and says certain others were left out 9. The subsidiary that runs the U.S. stores also trades as blinds.com, The Company Store and Contractors' Warehouse 9. Home Depot of Canada and Home Depot México run the stores abroad, and HD Supply Holdings and SRS Distribution run the distribution arms 9.

GMS is a subsidiary of SRS, and so is Mingledorff's 32. The Home Depot Foundation, a nonprofit supported by the company and its suppliers, works on housing for veterans, disaster relief and training for the skilled trades 3.

Its own brands include HDX, Husky, Hampton Bay, Home Decorators Collection, Glacier Bay, Vigoro, Everbilt and Lifeproof, which generally earn higher margins than national brands 3. The company owns 90 percent of its stores and leases 97 percent of its distribution centers and warehouses 3. No holder controls it: the proxy lists Vanguard with 10.0 percent and BlackRock with 7.1 percent of the common stock as the only holders above 5 percent 8.

On 18 August 2026 the company reaffirmed its fiscal 2026 guidance, which counts the tariff refunds against unplanned fuel, energy and input costs 1. It expects total sales growth of about 2.5 to 4.5 percent and comparable sales from flat to up 2.0 percent 1. It expects about 15 new stores, a gross margin of about 33.1 percent and an operating margin of about 12.4 to 12.6 percent 1.

The guidance also counts on net interest expense of about $2.3 billion and an effective tax rate of about 24.3 percent 1. Capital spending is guided at about 2.5 percent of total sales 1.

The company plans to spend about $4 billion on capital projects in fiscal 2026, about 2.5 percent of sales, on new and existing stores, its online experience and Pros 2. It began a plan in fiscal 2023 to open about 80 new stores over five years, expects to finish it in fiscal 2027 and then plans about 15 to 20 a year 3.

The company says it has no plans to resume share repurchases in fiscal 2026 while it reduces its debt, though about $11.7 billion of a $15.0 billion authorization remains 2. In February 2026 it raised the quarterly dividend 1.3 percent to $2.33 per share 3. It repaid $3.0 billion of long-term debt in the first half of fiscal 2026, and added a 364-day backup credit line of $4.5 billion that runs to July 2027 2.

The company's own dates come next 21. Third-quarter results are scheduled for release on 17 November 2026 21. The company said in August that it expects Decker to return within the next few months 5.

Shareholders rejected a proposal for an independent board chair at the May 2026 annual meeting, 186.3 million votes for and 529.4 million against 7. Its twelve directors were elected that day to one-year terms that end at the next annual meeting 7.

Past

Home Depot's revenue grew from $95 billion in fiscal 2017 to $165 billion in fiscal 2026, up 6.3% a year, and rose in 8 of 9 years Net income was positive in 10 of 10 filed years The deepest fall was 3% from fiscal 2023 to fiscal 2024 Over the 3 fiscal years to 2026, the diluted share count shrank about 1.0% a year , and dividends and buybacks returned about 61% of operating cash flow over 3 years Officers and directors filed 10 sales and 0 purchases of their own stock on the open market in the year to 2026-09-30 1

Home Depot's filings since 2017 show no warning events: no bankruptcy or receivership notice, no debt default notice, no exchange listing notice, no restatement warning, no auditor change, no material cyber incident and no late-report notice 1

Present

For the fiscal year ended 2026-02-01, Home Depot reported revenue of $165 billion and a profit of $14 billion Return on equity was about 110 cents of profit for every dollar of shareholders' money Gross profitability was about 52 cents per dollar of everything the company owns Leverage was about 88 cents owed per dollar of assets Revenue of $165 billion ranks in the top 5% by size among its industry family, a net margin of 8.6% ranks in the top 23%, and revenue growth of 1.5% a year over the last 3 filed years ranks in the top 50% 21

The chief executive is Decker, Edward P. , filing under that title since 2022-03-24 The 24 officers and directors filing in the last fifteen months have been on the record a median of 6.3 years Five officer or director changes were reported on Form 8-K since 2023-10-21, against the 24 people in charge now 1

Future

A quarterly report (Form 10-Q) for the quarter ending 2026-10-31 is due by 2026-12-10 An annual report (Form 10-K) for the fiscal year ending 2027-01-31 is due by 2027-04-01 The results release last came 16 days after the quarter ended 3

Revenue grew 1.5% a year over the last three filed years against 6.3% over all 10, slowing The newest year grew 3.3% Cash from operations less capital spending is 7.7% of revenue A gross margin of 33.3% 1

How the company operates

Home Depot is a retail business in Retail-Lumber & Other Building Materials Dealers In fiscal 2026, Primary revenue was 92% and All Other was 8% By geography, United States revenue was 92% and Outside the United States was 8% Home Depot reported Primary revenue at $152 billion and All Other at $13 billion in fiscal 2026; 1 of 2 lines grew against the year before 21

New moves

On 2026-09-04, Home Depot filed a Form S-3ASR shelf registration, a large filer's shelf ready for sale On 2026-08-21, a Form 8-K reported an officer or director change, counted in Leadership On 2026-05-26, a Form 8-K reported a charter, bylaw or fiscal-year change 3

On 2026-09-17, housing starts were counted at 1,275,000 a year, 2.6 percent under July, and completions fell 1,128,000; the company is adjacent to this event 4