Should You Buy Home Depot Stock Before Aug. 18?
Key Points
Home Depot reports Q2 2026 results premarket on Aug. 18, with forecasts calling for modest growth in revenue and earnings.
As acquisitions, not same-store sales, drive revenue growth, and an earnings resurgence proves elusive, Home Depot's rough patch could persist.
Already pricey at 24 times forward earnings, investors may be overestimating how soon the rebound could arrive for Home Depot, leaving shares at risk of experiencing further volatility.
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Home Depot (NYSE: HD) next reports quarterly earnings premarket on Aug. 18, 2026. So far this year, shares in the home improvement and building-products retailer have traded sideways, with Home Depot, one of the most widely followed retail stocks, up just over 3% year-to-date.
Weak fiscal results explain this tepid performance. Last quarter, Home Depot beat expectations on both revenue and earnings, yet the results underscored that macro uncertainty and a slow housing market continue to weigh on demand.
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Home Depot Q2 FY27 earnings preview
Last quarter, Home Depot reported nearly $41.8 billion in revenue and earnings of $3.43 per share. While the top line grew by 4.8%, same-store sales were up just 0.6%. Earnings were down by around 3.7% compared to the prior year's quarter. Chalk this up to a recent spate of acquisitions, which have increased overall revenue but have failed to offset bottom-line headwinds such as rising operating costs and continued weak demand.
The lackluster results, coupled with management's reiteration of its ho-hum guidance for the fiscal year ending January 2027, led to a muted positive reaction among investors. That said, since the last earnings report in May, shares have inched higher, from the $320s to the $350s per share. For the July quarter, analysts are expecting slightly slower sales growth of around 4.4%, plus a slight year-over-year gain in earnings per share, from $4.68 to $4.73.
Tread cautiously for now
If Q2 earnings play out anything like Q1, it'll likely take upward guidance revisions to drive increased investor excitement for Home Depot shares. Even then, with the stock currently trading for around 24 times forward earnings, it's almost as though the market already expects stronger growth in the coming quarters.
While Home Depot, bulking up during this sector downturn, could come back in a big way once the housing market recovers, stick to the sidelines -- at least until valuation becomes more reasonable or more evidence of an earnings resurgence emerges.
Should you buy stock in Home Depot right now?
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Thomas Niel has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Home Depot. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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