Home Depot Shares Jump 3.6% After Wall Street Raises Targets

Home Depot shares climbed 3.6% to as high as $352.02 Friday, with trading volume running about 17% above average, after Wall Street analysts pushed their price targets higher again. For store associates and managers, the bigger question is not the stock chart itself but whether that confidence shows up in payroll, pro traffic, inventory support, and the kind of capital spending that makes a busy floor run smoother.

Robert W. Baird raised its target on The Home Depot, Inc. from $400 to $430 and kept an outperform rating. Morgan Stanley lifted its target from $412 to $420 and reiterated an overweight rating. The overall analyst picture remained tilted bullish, with 20 buy ratings, 12 hold ratings, and just one sell rating, and the average target price stood at $414.17. That is the market saying Home Depot still looks like one of the stronger names in retail, even with housing turnover stuck in a slow lane.

The optimism matters because Home Depot’s latest results were not a blowout. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, sales were $38.2 billion, down 3.8% from a year earlier, while comparable sales rose 0.4% companywide and 0.3% in the U.S. Net earnings came in at $2.6 billion, or $2.58 per diluted share, compared with $3.0 billion, or $3.02 per share, a year earlier. For the full fiscal year, sales reached $164.7 billion, comparable sales rose 0.3% companywide and 0.5% in the U.S., and net earnings were $14.2 billion with adjusted earnings per diluted share of $14.69.

That mix helps explain why analysts still sound constructive. Home Depot is holding sales together in a weak housing backdrop, and its business still draws from do-it-yourself shoppers, contractors, and other pro customers who drive bigger baskets and more frequent visits. For store teams, that usually translates into pressure to execute well on the floor: keep high-demand product flowing, move quickly on special orders, and make sure the pro desk and delivery side do not lose business to delays or out-of-stocks.

Still, Home Depot itself has been cautious about the year ahead. In a December investor update, the company said fiscal 2026 assumed persistent pressure on housing activity and no immediate catalyst for a rebound in turnover or affordability. It also said it would discuss strategic priorities and a market-recovery case at its investor and analyst conference.

The company has also been investing on the operational side. On April 15, Home Depot announced the acquisition of SIMPL Automation to accelerate supply-chain automation and improve customer delivery experience. That is the kind of move associates often feel indirectly first: better inventory movement, cleaner fulfillment, and less friction when customers need product now. If Wall Street is right, the next test is whether that confidence turns into better in-store execution, not just a higher share price.