Home Depot Reaffirms Guidance Despite Strong Q2 Results

The Home Depot, Inc., parent company to the home improvement retailer whose common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker HD, reaffirmed its fiscal 2026 guidance after second-quarter sales and earnings rose from a year earlier. Net sales rose 5.7% to $47.9 billion, from $45.3 billion in the second quarter of fiscal 2025.

Chief Financial Officer Richard McPhail stated that 'our second quarter results exceeded our expectations,' with customers continuing to engage in smaller projects. Despite this strong performance, growth in like-for-like sales remained modest, which the company cited as the reason for holding guidance.

The second quarter ended on August 2, 2026, and comparable sales increased 1.7%, while US comparable sales rose 1.3%. Net earnings were $4.8 billion, against $4.6 billion, and diluted earnings per share rose to $4.79 from $4.58.

Key risks for the company include weaker demand for larger renovation projects, pressure on margins from pricing or mix, execution risk from the leadership transition, and a balance sheet carrying $52.9 billion of total debt against $2.1 billion of cash at quarter end.