Home Depot Q1 beats, $2.33 dividend

The Home Depot reported first-quarter fiscal 2026 sales of $41.8 billion on May 19, up 4.8% from a year earlier, and said comparable sales increased 0.6%. The retailer said net earnings were $3.3 billion, or $3.30 per diluted share, while adjusted diluted earnings were $3.43 per share. (ir.homedepot.com) The company reaffirmed its fiscal 2026 guidance, including total sales growth of about 2.5% to 4.5% and comparable sales ranging from flat to up 2.0%. (ir.homedepot.com) Ted Decker, Home Depot’s chair, president and chief executive, said the quarter was “in line with our expectations” and said underlying demand looked similar to fiscal 2025 despite consumer uncertainty and housing affordability pressure. (ir.homedepot.com) Two days later, on May 21, the company said its board had declared a quarterly cash dividend of $2.33 per share. That dividend is payable on June 18 to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 4. ### How strong were the quarter’s headline numbers? Home Depot said first-quarter adjusted diluted earnings per share were $3.43, compared with $3.56 a year earlier, while reported diluted earnings per share were $3.30 versus $3.45. (ir.homedepot.com) Sales rose by $1.9 billion from the prior-year quarter, and foreign exchange added about 55 basis points to total company comparable sales, the company said. The company said U.S. comparable sales rose 0.4%, while sales trends were helped by favorable weather in its Northern and Western divisions. Mexico posted positive comparable sales in local currency, while Canada was negative, according to management’s prepared remarks on the earnings call. (ir.homedepot.com) ### What did management say about demand and the housing backdrop? Ted Decker said on the earnings release that underlying demand was “relatively similar” to what Home Depot saw through fiscal 2025. The company tied that backdrop to continued consumer uncertainty and pressure from housing affordability. (ir.homedepot.com) At the end of the quarter, Home Depot said it operated 2,361 retail stores and more than 1,280 SRS locations. The company said it employs more than 470,000 associates. ### What exactly did Home Depot announce on the dividend? (ir.homedepot.com) Home Depot said on May 21 that its board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $2.33 per share. The company said this will mark its 157th consecutive quarter paying a cash dividend. The same $2.33 quarterly rate was approved in February, when Home Depot announced a 1.3% increase in the dividend and said that equated to an annualized rate of $9.32 per share. (ir.homedepot.com) The May 21 release was the regular declaration tied to that rate. ### What did the company keep unchanged for the rest of 2026? Home Depot reaffirmed fiscal 2026 guidance for gross margin of about 33.1%, operating margin of about 12.4% to 12.6%, and adjusted operating margin of about 12.8% to 13.0%. The company also kept its outlook for about 15 new stores, net interest expense of about $2.3 billion, and capital expenditures of about 2.5% of total sales. (ir.homedepot.com) The company said diluted earnings per share are expected to range from flat to up 4.0% from fiscal 2025 levels. Adjusted diluted earnings per share are also expected to range from flat to up 4.0%, using $14.69 in fiscal 2025 as the comparison base, the release said. (prnewswire.com) ### Where can investors look next for the tariff and margin discussion? Home Depot said in its May 19 release that it held a 9 a.m. ET conference call to discuss the quarter and related matters, and that a webcast and replay are available through its investor relations site. The posted transcript identifies Decker, Ann-Marie Campbell, Billy Bastek and Chief Financial Officer Richard McPhail as participants. (ir.homedepot.com) The next dated milestones in the company’s dividend calendar are June 4, the record date, and June 18, the payment date for the $2.33 quarterly cash dividend. (ir.homedepot.com 1) (ir.homedepot.com 2)