Home Depot’s fourth-quarter results beat Wall Street estimates for earnings, but the company acknowledged that cautious consumer spending persisted alongside a weak housing market. In the quarter ended Feb. 1, Home Depot earned $2.57 billion, or $2.58 per share, according to FactSet, after analysts had expected $2.53 per share. Revenue totaled $38.2 billion, down from $39.7 billion a year earlier, a shift the company attributed in part to the timing of its fiscal calendar.
The retail chain also pointed to the broader demand environment in its remarks on performance. Chair and CEO Ted Decker said in a statement that Home Depot’s quarterly results “were largely in-line with our expectations, reflecting the lack of storm activity in the third quarter and ongoing consumer uncertainty and pressure in housing.” He added that, “Adjusting for storms, underlying demand was relatively stable throughout the year,” placing emphasis on ongoing caution rather than a sudden deterioration.
Home Depot’s per-share earnings reflected both forecast beat and calendar effects. The company said its reported results included $2.57 billion in earnings for the three months ended Feb. 1, and that stripping out one-time charges or benefits, earnings were $2.72 per share, topping projections. The company’s prior-year quarter included an extra week in fiscal 2024, which it said added approximately 30 cents per share and about $2.5 billion of sales.
Despite the revenue decline year over year, Home Depot showed modest strength in a key demand gauge tied to established stores. Sales at stores open at least a year edged up 0.4%, and in the U.S., comparable store sales climbed 0.3%. At the same time, the company said customer transactions dropped 1.6% during the quarter, even as the average receipt increased to $91.28 from $89.11 a year earlier—an indication that fewer shoppers bought, but those who did spent more on average.
Several analysts attributed the shift in spending patterns to homeowners’ changing project scale. Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, said in commentary that there had been a “shift in the behavior of homeowners” because of the housing market and the economy, with more people taking on smaller projects. Saunders wrote that the “broader truth” was that Home Depot performs best for large-scale improvement tasks and major DIY jobs, but that the final quarter saw “the number of projects undertaken down by 1.5%,” driven largely by a sharp decline in bigger ticket projects such as full remodels.
Saunders said homeowners appeared to turn toward local hardware stores that can satisfy needs for smaller projects. He described the overall dynamic as one where customer behavior trends away from large renovations during a weak housing period, which has contributed to more muted retail demand for categories tied to major home improvements.
Looking ahead, Home Depot offered guidance for fiscal 2026 that suggested stability rather than acceleration. For the year, the company anticipated adjusted earnings to be approximately flat to up 4% from fiscal 2025’s $14.69 per share. It also projected total sales growth of about 2.5% to 4.5% and comparable sales growth to be approximately flat to up 2%, framing the outlook in terms of incremental improvement rather than a broad rebound.
The quarterly backdrop, as described by the company and by analysts, has been shaped by a housing slowdown dating back to 2022, when mortgage rates began rising from historic lows. Consumer confidence also declined sharply in January, reaching the lowest level since 2014, as Americans grew more concerned about their financial prospects—conditions that Home Depot said contributed to ongoing pressure on housing and uncertainty among consumers. In the context of those forces, Home Depot’s stock rose more than 3% before the market opened following the results announcement.