The Home Depot Publishes Strategic Update; Reaffirms Guidance

The Home Depot ®, the world's largest home improvement retailer, will discuss key strategic priorities, provide a preliminary 2026 outlook and a market recovery case, today at its 2025 Investor and Analyst Conference.   

Today’s conference will begin at 8:30 a.m. ET and will be available in its entirety through a live webcast and replay at ir.homedepot.com/events-and-presentations. 

During today’s conference, the company will discuss how it is uniquely positioned to grow market share and deliver shareholder value through its strategy to: drive core and culture, deliver a frictionless interconnected experience, and win the pro. 

“We are focused on growing sales and delivering exceptional shareholder returns, supported by our culture and values,” said Ted Decker, chair, president, and CEO. “The investments we’ve made over the last several years have further strengthened our distinct competitive advantages and position us well to grow share in an approximately $1.1 trillion total addressable market.” 

Fiscal Year 2025 Guidance

The company reaffirms its fiscal 2025 guidance, a 52-week year compared to fiscal 2024, a 53-week year:

• Total sales growth of approximately 3%
  • GMS expected to contribute approximately $2 billion in incremental sales
• Comparable sales growth to be slightly positive for the comparable 52-week period
• Approximately 12 new stores
• Gross margin of approximately 33.2%
• Operating margin of approximately 12.6%
• Adjusted(1) operating margin of approximately 13.0%
• Tax rate of approximately 24.5%
• Net interest expense of approximately $2.3 billion
• Diluted earnings-per-share to decline approximately 6% from $14.91 in fiscal 2024
• Adjusted(1) diluted earnings-per-share to decline approximately 5% from $15.24 in fiscal 2024
• Capital expenditures of approximately 2.5% of total sales

Preliminary Fiscal Year 2026 Outlook

Today, the company is providing a preliminary outlook for fiscal 2026:

• Home improvement market in a range between -1% to +1%
  • Comparable sales growth of approximately flat to 2%
• Total sales growth of approximately 2.5% to 4.5%
• Operating margin of approximately 12.4% to 12.6%
• Adjusted(1) operating margin of approximately 12.8% to 13.0%
• Diluted earnings-per-share to increase approximately flat to 4%
• Adjusted(1) diluted earnings-per-share to increase approximately flat to 4% 

[1] The Company reports its financial results in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). As used in this earnings release, adjusted operating income, adjusted operating margin, and adjusted diluted earnings per share are non-GAAP financial measures. Refer to the end of this release for an explanation of these non-GAAP financial measures and reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP measures.

Market Recovery Case

Today, the company is also providing a market recovery case:

• Total sales growth of approximately 5% to 6%
• Total comparable sales growth of approximately 4% to 5%
• Operating profit growth faster than sales
• Diluted earnings-per-share growth of approximately mid-to-high-single-digits

“Our Market Recovery Case reflects our performance expectations once we see momentum in housing activity and increased spend on larger projects driven by pent-up demand. We believe that the pressures in housing will correct and provide the home improvement market with support for growth faster than the general economy, and we expect to continue to grow faster than our market,” said Richard McPhail, executive vice president and chief financial officer. “In our Accelerated Recovery Case, we could see sales and earnings per share grow faster in the event of a sharper housing recovery.” 

At the end of the third quarter, the company operated a total of 2,356 retail stores and over 1,200 SRS locations across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, 10 Canadian provinces and Mexico. The Company employs over 470,000 associates. The Home Depot's stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: HD) and is included in the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 index.

Source : The Home Depot

Image : Rob Wilson / shutterstock / 180692453 

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