In a mixed first quarter, Home Depot posted positive comparable sales but lower earnings, although profits and revenues exceeded Wall Street estimates.
An analyst consensus estimate published by Zacks Investment Research called for earnings per adjusted diluted share of $3.40 and revenues of $41.55 billion.
Home Depot posted a comparable sales gain of 0.6% in the quarter, year over year, with comp sales in the United States up 0.4%. Net sales were $41.77 billion in the quarter, up 4.8% from the year-previous period, the company reported.
Operating income was $4.98 billion versus $5.13 billion in the year-past quarter, while adjusted operating income was $5.15 billion versus $5.27 billion.
Home Depot reaffirmed its guidance for the 2026 fiscal year, which included total sales growth of 2.5% to 4.5%, comp sales growth of flat to 2% and adjusted diluted EPS growth of flat to 4%.
In a conference call, Ted Decker, Home Depot chair, president and CEO, said, “Our results were in line with our expectations. In the U.S., our northern and western divisions had positive comps as customers engaged in outdoor projects when the weather was favorable. In local currency, Mexico had positive comps, while Canada was negative. The underlying demand in our business was relatively similar to what we saw throughout fiscal 2025, despite greater consumer uncertainty and housing affordability pressure.”
Billy Bastek, executive vice president of merchandising, said in the conference call that the storage, power, hardware, plumbing, electrical, bath, indoor garden, paint and kitchen categories gained in the quarter. He added that big-ticket items priced above $1,000 posted a 0.8% increase, but products associated with larger discretionary projects remained relatively soft, given economic uncertainty in the marketplace.
On the do-it-yourself side of the business, Home Depot experienced strength in DIY across many spring-related categories such as live goods, outdoor power equipment, patio, grills and storage. Comp average ticket advanced 2.2% in the quarter but comp transactions decreased 1.3%, Bastek said.
