Americans still aren’t moving, so they are fixing up the houses they already own — and doing it one small job at a time. That is what showed up in Home Depot’s books Tuesday morning. The chain reported sales of $47.9 billion for the quarter that ended in early August, up $2.6 billion or 5.7% from a year earlier, with sales at stores open at least a year rising 1.7% and U.S. same-store sales up 1.3%. It left its full-year targets exactly where they were.
“Our second quarter results exceeded our expectations. We saw broad based demand across the business as customers continued to engage in smaller projects,” said Richard McPhail, the company’s chief financial officer.
The shape of the quarter matters more than the headline number. Customer transactions actually fell about 1%, but the average receipt rose to $92.50 from $90.01 a year ago — roughly $2.50 more per trip. Fewer visits, fuller carts. That is the signature of a repair-and-maintain market rather than a renovation boom: a water heater, a bathroom vanity, paint and lumber for a deck, not a gut kitchen.
McPhail described conditions as a frozen housing market, and said the 1.7% same-store number was the company’s best since late 2022.
On profit, net earnings came in at $4.8 billion, or $4.79 per diluted share, against $4.6 billion and $4.58 a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, which strips out one-time items, earnings were $4.92 per share compared with $4.68.
What the company did not do was raise its outlook. Home Depot still expects full-year sales growth of about 2.5% to 4.5% and comparable sales anywhere from flat to up 2%, with operating margin of 12.4% to 12.6%. After a quarter that came in ahead of plan, holding the range steady says management is not counting on a housing recovery in the back half of the year.
Costs are part of that caution. The company said its guidance includes tariff refunds it expects will partially offset unplanned fuel, energy and other product input costs, which McPhail said lets the retailer hold prices where customers expect them.
The results came without the chief executive. Ted Decker, 63, began a temporary medical leave announced last week, with McPhail and senior executive vice president Ann-Marie Campbell splitting his duties. He is expected back within a few months and did not join the earnings call.
For the ordinary homeowner, the read-through is simple. Mortgage rates remain higher than a year ago, and the resale market has been stuck since 2022, which means the household that would have traded up is instead spending that money on the property it is sitting in. Home Depot’s aisles are where that decision gets made, about $92 at a time.
JBizNews Desk | Atlanta
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