ATLANTA, Aug. 18, 2026 /CNW/ -- The Home Depot^{(EQNX::registered)}, the world's largest home improvement retailer, today reported sales of $47.9 billion for the second quarter of fiscal 2026, an increase of $2.6 billion, or 5.7% from the second quarter of fiscal 2025. Comparable sales for the second quarter of fiscal 2026 increased 1.7%, and comparable sales in the U.S. increased 1.3%.(EQNX::nobreakspace)

Net earnings for the second quarter of fiscal 2026 were $4.8 billion, or $4.79 per diluted share, compared with net earnings of $4.6 billion, or $4.58 per diluted share, in the same period of fiscal 2025.

Adjusted⁽¹⁾ diluted earnings per share for the second quarter of fiscal 2026 were $4.92, compared with adjusted diluted earnings per share of $4.68 in the same period of fiscal 2025.

"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.(EQNX::nobreakspace)

"This quarter's results were a testament to our investments across the business and our associates' focus on customer service. Our teams did an exceptional job executing throughout a dynamic environment, and I would like to thank them for their continued hard work and dedication," said Ann-Marie Campbell, Senior Executive Vice President.

Fiscal 2026 Guidance

The Company reaffirms its fiscal 2026 guidance. Guidance includes IEEPA tariff refunds, which are expected to partially offset unplanned fuel, energy, and other product input costs throughout the fiscal year.

• Total sales growth of approximately 2.5% to 4.5%
• Comparable sales growth of approximately flat to 2.0%
• Approximately 15 new stores
• Gross margin of approximately 33.1%
• Operating margin of approximately 12.4% to 12.6%
• Adjusted⁽¹⁾ operating margin of approximately 12.8% to 13.0%
• Effective tax rate of approximately 24.3%
• Net interest expense of approximately $2.3 billion
• Diluted earnings-per-share to grow approximately flat to 4.0% from $14.23 in fiscal 2025
• Adjusted⁽¹⁾ diluted earnings-per-share to grow approximately flat to 4.0% from $14.69 in fiscal 2025
• Capital expenditures of approximately 2.5% of total sales

The Home Depot will conduct a conference call today at 9 a.m. ET to discuss information included in this news release and related matters. The conference call will be available in its entirety through a webcast and replay at ir.homedepot.com/events-and-presentations.

At the end of the second quarter, the company operated a total of 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. The Company employs over 470,000 associates. The Home Depot's stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: HD) and is included in the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 index.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained herein constitute "forward-looking statements" under the federal securities laws, including as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are based on currently available information and our current assumptions, expectations and projections about future events, and use words such as "may," "will," "could," "should," "would," "anticipate," "intend," "estimate," "project," "plan," "believe," "expect," "target," "prospects," "potential," "commit" and "forecast," or words of similar import or meaning or refer to future time periods. Forward-looking statements may relate to, among other things: our brand and reputation; the demand for our products and services, including as a result of macroeconomic conditions and changing customer preferences and expectations; net sales growth; comparable sales; the effects of competition; implementation of interconnected, store, supply chain, technology, innovation and other strategic initiatives, including with respect to real estate; inventory, on-shelf availability, and in-stock positions; the state of the economy; the state of the housing and home improvement markets; the state of the credit markets, including mortgages, home equity loans, and consumer and trade credit; the impact of tariffs; trade policy changes or restrictions, or international trade disputes and efforts and ability to continue to diversify our supply chain; issues related to the payment methods we accept; demand for credit offerings including trade credit; management of relationships with our associates, jobseekers, suppliers and service providers; cost and availability of labor; costs of fuel and other energy sources; events that could disrupt our business, supply chain, technology infrastructure, or demand for our products and services, such as tariffs, trade policy changes or restrictions or international trade disputes, natural disasters, climate change, public health issues, cybersecurity events, and labor disputes; geopolitical tensions or conflicts, military conflicts, or acts of war; our ability to maintain a safe and secure store environment; our ability to address expectations regarding sustainability and human capital management matters and meet related goals; continuation or suspension of share repurchases; net earnings and margin performance; earnings per share; future dividends; capital allocation and expenditures; productivity; liquidity; return on invested capital; expense and debt leverage; changes in interest rates; changes in foreign currency exchange rates; commodity or other price inflation and deflation; our ability to issue debt on terms and at rates acceptable to us; the impact and expected outcome of investigations, inquiries, claims, and litigation; the timing and expected impact of organizational changes, including within the Company's senior leadership team; the challenges of operating in international markets; the adequacy of insurance coverage; the effect of accounting charges; the effect of adopting certain accounting standards; the impact of legal and regulatory changes, including executive orders and other administrative or legislative actions, such as changes to tax laws and regulations; store openings and closures; financial outlook, including guidance for fiscal 2026; and the impact of acquired companies, including SRS and GMS, on our organization and the ability to recognize the anticipated benefits of completed or pending acquisitions.

These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to future events, risks and uncertainties (EQNX::endash) many of which are beyond our control, dependent on the actions of third parties, or currently unknown to us (EQNX::endash) as well as potentially inaccurate assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from our historical experience and our expectations and projections. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those described in Part I, Item 1A. "Risk Factors," and elsewhere in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for our fiscal year ended February 1, 2026 and also as described from time to time in reports subsequently filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. There also may be other factors that we cannot anticipate or that are not described herein, generally because we do not currently perceive them to be material. Such factors could cause results to differ materially from our expectations. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and we do not undertake to update these statements other than as required by law. You are advised, however, to review any further disclosures we make on related subjects in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and in our other public statements.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures
To provide additional transparency, we supplement our disclosure with certain non-GAAP financial measures. When used in conjunction with our GAAP financial measures, we believe these supplemental non-GAAP financial measures will help management and investors to better understand and analyze our performance. However, this supplemental information should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the related GAAP measures. Refer to the end of this release for an explanation and definitions of these non-GAAP financial measures and reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP measures.(EQNX::nobreakspace)

(EQNX::nobreakspace)

Do not sell my personal information