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Quote this valuation with its source: Fair value, Potential value and the price at analysis.
FAQ
HD — frequently asked questions
Is The Home Depot, Inc. overvalued?
In our latest published analysis dated 2026-09-08, HD looks meaningfully overvalued. The price recorded at analysis is USD 321 versus our fair value of USD 216; the high endpoint is presented separately as potential value of USD 307. That implies roughly 32.8% downside to fair value at that date.
Our latest published report, analyzed 2026-09-08, gives HD a fair value of USD 216 and a potential value of USD 307. The conclusion is triangulated across multiple valuation models and weighted by reliability for The Home Depot, Inc.'s archetype; it is a dated research output, not a live price.
Should I buy HD now?
Our latest published rating for HD, analyzed 2026-09-08, is Sell. The Home Depot, Inc. looks meaningfully overvalued at the analysis-date price of USD 321 versus fair value of USD 216; potential value is USD 307. This is research for educational purposes, not personalized investment advice.
What are the biggest risks for HD?
The dedicated bear-case section in our report analyzed 2026-09-08 documents The Home Depot, Inc.'s material risks, evidence, thresholds, and thesis-invalidation conditions. Scenario-specific explanations remain in that section so the report does not repeat or decontextualize them elsewhere.
What is HD's rating?
Our latest published rating for HD, analyzed 2026-09-08, is Sell, with a published moat assessment of 1/10 (None). It reflects our fair value of USD 216, the potential value of USD 307, and the price recorded at analysis (USD 321).
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§1 SamenvattingEN
Antwoord in 30 secondenSell
Koers versus waarde
Koers
$321.05
Reële waarde
$215.78
Potentiële waarde
$306.96
Per
2026-09-04
Waarom het kan werken
If demand returns faster than expected, earnings per share could reach the upper end of the estimate range for the year ending 2028-01-31 while cash generation stays strong.
Wat onze visie zou veranderen
Sales growth in the main store business falls below two percent for two consecutive fiscal years.
The rating is Sell. The report-date price sits above our estimate of what Home Depot is worth.
Sell means we would reduce a holding rather than add to one. The report-date price is above our Fair value, so a buyer today pays more than the business appears to be worth.
The main risk is that sales in the largest business slow. That line supplied $151.97 billion of the $164.68 billion of total sales in the year ended 2026-02-01. Store and staffing costs do not fall as fast, so profit would drop faster than sales.7
The clearest reason it could work: the business turns reported profit into cash. Operating cash was $16.33 billion against $14.16 billion of profit in the year ended 2026-02-01, funding the dividend and store investment.6
Cycle upside
Demand improves modestly. Analyst sales estimates for the year ending 2028-01-31 point to growth, with a mid estimate of $177.49 billion. That is an expectation, not a result already achieved.
Sell: the report-date price exceeds our estimate of the company's worth.
Huisaanbeveling
Sell: the report-date price exceeds our estimate of the company's worth.
Bedrijfsoverzicht
The Home Depot, Inc. offers its associates the opportunity to benefit from robust development opportunities. Its Home Depot University, or “HDU,” program, is a key part of this development, offering relevant content through multiple platforms, including instructor-led classes, e-learning, mobile learning, and additional online resources.
The Home Depot, Inc. also provides a number of services, including home improvement installation services, and tool and equipment rental. The Home Depot, Inc. currently conducts these operations in the U.S. (including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the territories of the U.S.
§2 BerenscenarioEN
The primary business transmits the weakness because smaller segments offer limited offset. Positive FY2025 free cash flow cushions funding pressure but does not prevent lower earnings and value.
Sales growth in the main store business stays below two percent for two consecutive fiscal years7
Operating profit per sales dollar falls below ten cents6
Home projects stay deferred and sales growth in the main store business falls under two percent. Fixed costs then take a larger share of each sales dollar, so profit falls faster than sales. Two consecutive weak fiscal years would confirm this path.
Home Depot earns solid profits and turns reported profit into cash. Those are results, not protection. Available public information does not show a structural advantage that keeps rivals out, such as high switching costs, a distribution edge, or a scale advantage rivals cannot copy.
The nearest home-improvement retailer trades at a lower price per dollar of expected earnings than Home Depot. That gap means investors currently pay more for Home Depot's earnings. Other companies in the comparison sell coffee, food and apparel, so they test valuation only, not competitive strength.
Economische winst
Free cash flow was positive in the fiscal year ended 2026-02-01. That shows cash resilience. It does not show returns above what investors require.5
1/ 10
None
Bekende bedreigingen voor het concurrentievoordeel
Bedreiging
Ernst
Tijdlijn
Beperking
The closest home-improvement rival competes for the same customer trips and pricing room
medium
Two consecutive fiscal years of faster rival growth would confirm it
Track relative sales growth and Home Depot's operating profit margin together, not the rival's share price1
The highlighted cell is Fair value when every assumption sits at its base level ($215.78). Each row and column shows what Fair value becomes when one assumption moves.
Free cash flow to the firm stays positive in the first projected year at $15.9B after modeled capex of $3.6B, with terminal value at 55.0% of enterprise value. A sudden drop in free cash flow is not projected unless capital spending relative to revenue, reinvestment, or gross margin resets materially.
Sales reach roughly the mid analyst estimate for the year ending 2028-01-311
Cash generation stays near the level reported for the year ended 2026-02-016
Sales recover at a low-single-digit rate through the year ending 2028-01-31, consistent with the annual revenue estimate. Even with that recovery, the report-date market valuation remains above the $215.78 fair-value midpoint.1
Earnings per share reach the high end of the estimate range for the year ending 2028-01-311
§7 Beslissingsboom voor winstenEN
Overtroffen
Do not add; trim more slowly pending confirmation.
Trigger: Sales growth improves versus the forecast path while operating profit per sales dollar holds.1
The report-date price remains above fair value, so one strong result would improve confidence in the recovery but would not by itself remove the valuation concern.
Conform
Continue the planned reduction.
Trigger: Sales and operating profit per sales dollar track the annual path.6
Expected delivery would preserve a modest recovery without extending visibility beyond FY2028.
Gemist
Accelerate the reduction.
Trigger: Primary-business sales weaken and less operating cash supports reported profit.6
Weak primary-business sales or poorer cash backing would show that earnings power is falling rather than merely delayed.
Winstkwaliteit
FY2025 operating cash exceeded reported profit, although one period does not establish durable cash growth.6
Te volgen metrieken vóór publicatie
01
Metriek:
Annual sales growth
HuidigFY2025 sales provide the reported baseline.
Waarom het ertoe doet
Slower growth would increase pressure from fixed store costs and reduce profit.6
02
Metriek:
Primary business growth
HuidigThe primary business supplied most sales in FY2025.
Waarom het ertoe doet
Weakness in the dominant business would flow directly into consolidated sales and profit.7
In the year ended 2026-02-01 the business produced $16.33 billion of operating cash, spent $3.68 billion on stores and equipment, and kept $12.65 billion.5,6
Kapitaalallocatie
Dividends of $9.15 billion took most of that free cash in the same year. Debt stood at $63.19 billion on 2026-09-08, so paying down borrowings competes directly with the dividend.
Available public information does not establish a multi-year trend in returns on the money invested in the business. Operating profit was $20.89 billion in the year ended 2026-02-01.
No comparison of returns earned against the return investors require is supported here, so no conclusion is drawn.
Cash generation was strong in the last reported year
Operating cash flow was $16.33 billion against reported profit of $14.16 billion for the year ended 2026-02-01
Profit arrived as real cash that year, which supports the dividend.
The Home Depot Inc. (HD) trades at 21.2x forward earnings against a peer median of 20.6x. Its EV/EBITDA of 15.5x compares with a peer median of 16.5x. The comparison uses 4 peers: Lowe's Companies Inc., Starbucks Corporation, McDonald's Corporation and The TJX Companies Inc., as of 2026-09-08.
§10 Sector & cyclusEN
Cyclusfase
Expansion
Industry capital spending runs near six percent of sales, with spending slightly above the rate assets wear out.
Bullencyclus
Demand improves modestly. Analyst sales estimates for the year ending 2028-01-31 point to growth, with a mid estimate of $177.49 billion. That is an expectation, not a result already achieved.
Berencyclus
Home projects are easy to delay. If customers postpone them, sales in the main store business slow, and that business supplied $151.97 billion of the $164.68 billion total in the year ended 2026-02-01.
Seculaire trends
Trend
Impact
Notitie
Sales concentrated in one large business
negative
With most sales in one line, there is little to cushion a slow year.
Reliable cash generation
positive
The business turned reported profit into cash in the year ended 2026-02-01.
Positionering
Home Depot's scale is real, but growth depends on one large business recovering. At today's size, the smaller businesses would need very rapid growth to offset a sustained shortfall there.7
§11 PositiebeheerEN
Positiegrootte
No new position; reduce any existing holding. The Sell rating requires lower exposure while the accepted valuation remains below the report-date price.4
Risico
Reduce in stages and accelerate when an operating threshold breaks. Substantial debt increases the financial effect of weaker cash generation.
Entree-tranches
Niveau
Actie
Waarom
No entry while reduction remains required
Do not open or enlarge the position.
Adding exposure would conflict with the Sell rating.
Exit-tranches
Niveau
Actie
Planned reduction
Trim now rather than waiting for a price trigger.
Confirmed operating weakness
Exit if annual revenue growth falls below 2% in FY2027 or FY2028.
Complete the exit because the expected recovery would have failed.
Cash backing of profit
Full-year operating cash under 0.8 times reported profit
Exit fully because dividends and investment would have weaker internal funding.
§12 BeleggersperspectievenEN
Income investor
Hold
The dividend was covered by free cash in the year ended 2026-02-01, but $9.15 billion of payouts took most of the $12.65 billion generated.5
Long-term owner
Avoid
No structural advantage was established, and the report-date price sits above our estimate of value.
Value investor
Avoid
Shares cost more per dollar of expected earnings than the nearest home-improvement rival, without proven faster growth.3
§14 EindaanbevelingEN
Actie
Verkopen
The rating is Sell because the report-date price is above our estimate of what the business is worth.
Home Depot generates real cash and pays a covered dividend. But growth is modest, concentrated in one large business, and no lasting competitive barrier was established. That combination does not support the report-date market valuation.
§15Your notes
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Sources
The records this analysis drew on, as they stood when it was run.
Not every cited input appears here: internal calculations and intermediate model outputs have no external record, and some citations could not be matched to one.
Forward P/E falls below 17x before earnings accelerate, reducing the price investors pay for expected profit.3
FV impact
-5.9%
Terminal multiple 20% lower
Trigger
Within 12 months
Profit stops converting into cash
Full-year operating cash falls below 0.8 times reported profit, weakening support for dividends and reinvestment.
FV impact
-6.3%
The analyst's bear scenario path and multiple as the base case
Trigger
Within 18 months
Required investor returns rise
The moderate cost of equity exceeds 11.78%, reducing the present value of future cash while debt remains substantial.2,4
FV impact
-15.2%
Cost of capital 2 points higher
Trigger
Within 12 months
Primary business growth
Because the primary business dominates sales, sustained weakness would flow into consolidated revenue while smaller segments provide only limited offset.
Huidig:Primary revenue was $151.97 billion for the period ended 2026-02-01.
Waarschuwing alsBelow 2% for two consecutive fiscal years
Lower profit per sales dollar would turn weak demand into sustained earnings pressure and leave less internally generated cash for dividends and investment.
Limitation: Terminal value is 71.4% of this model's value, above the 60% level at which the methodology flags concentration; the value leans on the years beyond the explicit forecast.
Demand returns faster, earnings per share reach the upper end of the estimate range for the year ending 2028-01-31, and investors continue to award the same earnings multiple. Meaningful upside requires stronger earnings and sustained valuation support at the same time.1
03
Metriek:
Profit per sales dollar
HuidigFY2025 operating profit is the reported baseline.
Waarom het ertoe doet
A thinner margin would reduce earnings and the cash available for dividends.6
04
Metriek:
Cash backing of profit
HuidigOperating cash exceeded reported profit in FY2025.
Waarom het ertoe doet
Poorer cash backing would increase reliance on borrowing for dividends and investment.6
05
Metriek:
Growth versus the closest peer
HuidigThe closest operating peer has a lower forward earnings valuation.
Waarom het ertoe doet
Peer outgrowth alongside weaker margins could cause investors to pay less for Home Depot earnings.1