Piper Sandler cuts Home Depot price target to $378 after Q1 results

Piper Sandler cut its price target on Home Depot to $378 from $421 on May 20, joining other Wall Street firms that lowered targets after the retailer’s first-quarter results. Benzinga said RBC Capital cut its target to $340 from $377, while 24/7 Wall St. reported Wells Fargo lowered its target to $360 from $375 the same day. Home Depot reported first-quarter fiscal 2026 sales of $41.8 billion on May 19, up 4.8% from a year earlier, and said it was reaffirming full-year guidance. The company said comparable sales rose 0.6% overall and 0.4% in the United States, while net earnings fell to $3.3 billion, or $3.30 per diluted share, from $3.4 billion, or $3.45 per diluted share, a year earlier. (benzinga.com) ### Why did analysts lower targets after Home Depot kept guidance unchanged? Piper Sandler’s move came after Home Depot posted results that were broadly in line with expectations but did not appear to change the housing backdrop facing the company. Benzinga’s analyst-ratings page lists Piper Sandler, Truist Securities and UBS among the most recent firms to update their views on May 20. (ir.homedepot.com) Ted Decker, Home Depot’s chair, president and chief executive, said in the earnings release that “underlying demand” was “relatively similar” to what the company saw through fiscal 2025, despite “greater consumer uncertainty and housing affordability pressure.” That language kept the focus on the same pressures analysts had been tracking before the quarter. (benzinga.com) ### What did Home Depot actually report in the quarter? The company said adjusted diluted earnings per share were $3.43 in the first quarter, down from $3.56 a year earlier. Foreign exchange added about 55 basis points to total company comparable sales, the earnings release said. Richard McPhail, Home Depot’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, said on the earnings call that the company was maintaining its fiscal 2026 outlook. (ir.homedepot.com) The reaffirmed guidance was first issued with fourth-quarter results in February, when Home Depot said it expected total sales growth of about 2.8% and adjusted diluted earnings-per-share growth of about 2%. ### Which firms cut targets, and by how much? 24/7 Wall St. reported that Piper Sandler lowered its target by $43, RBC Capital cut by $37 and Wells Fargo reduced by $15 on May 20. Benzinga separately reported that Piper Sandler analyst Peter Keith maintained an Overweight rating while cutting his target. (ir.homedepot.com) Benzinga’s analyst-ratings page said Home Depot’s consensus price target stood at $391.96 based on 24 analyst ratings, with a high of $497 and a low of $310. That page also said the three most recent analyst ratings were released on May 20. ### What were executives telling investors about demand? Decker said on the earnings call that Home Depot continued to see customers defer larger discretionary projects while spending remained steadier on smaller jobs and maintenance work. (247wallst.com) The company has also been emphasizing its professional contractor business and supply-chain investments in recent presentations. (benzinga.com) Home Depot said in its investor materials that it had more than 2,300 stores and generated fiscal 2025 net sales of $164.7 billion. Those figures give analysts a base for valuing the company even as target prices move lower. ### When is the next checkpoint for investors? Home Depot’s investor calendar lists its annual meeting of shareholders for May 21, 2026, and its second-quarter 2026 earnings release for August 18, 2026. (ir.homedepot.com) The company said the first-quarter earnings webcast would remain archived on its investor relations site. (ir.homedepot.com 1) (ir.homedepot.com 2)