Home Depot beats estimates as pro demand and spring buying rise

Profit slipped even as spring demand and professional traffic kept Home Depot’s registers moving, a mix that points to busier stores without easier conditions for associates. The company said first-quarter fiscal 2026 sales rose to $41.8 billion, up 4.8% from a year earlier, while net earnings fell to $3.3 billion, or $3.30 a diluted share, from $3.4 billion, or $3.45 a share.

The quarter showed how the chain is being pulled by two different customers at once. Comparable sales rose 0.6% overall and 0.4% in the U.S., helped by professionals and by homeowners stocking up for spring projects. At the same time, comparable customer transactions fell 1.3%, while the average ticket climbed 2.3% to $92.76. For store teams, that is the kind of math that usually means fewer walks through the door but more pressure to convert each visit, especially when a contractor needs speed, accuracy and product knowledge and a homeowner wants help turning a project list into a cart.

Ted Decker said underlying demand was relatively similar to fiscal 2025, even with greater consumer uncertainty and housing-affordability pressure. That matters on the floor because it suggests Home Depot is not counting on a sudden housing rebound to do the work. Instead, the company is still leaning on the same operating mix it used last year: Pro customers, seasonal buying and associates who can keep product moving when shoppers are more price-conscious and less willing to browse.

Home Depot reaffirmed its fiscal 2026 outlook, calling for total sales growth of about 2.5% to 4.5% and comparable sales growth of flat to 2.0%. It also said it expects to open about 15 new stores this year. At the end of the quarter, the company operated 2,361 retail stores and more than 1,280 SRS locations, giving it a larger footprint to serve both contractors and homeowners across the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, Canada and Mexico.

The results fit a broader pattern from fiscal 2025, when sales rose to $164.7 billion, comparable sales increased 0.3% and net earnings reached $14.2 billion. Home Depot says its strategy still centers on driving the core and culture, delivering a frictionless interconnected experience and winning with the Pro. For store managers, that translates into a simple but demanding mandate: keep shelves full, keep the right product close to the job, and keep pace with a customer base that is still spending, just not spending casually.