{
  "id": 4310881,
  "title": "The Home Depot (HD) Posts Record Sales Growth Amid CEO Leave",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/28/the-home-depot-hd-posts-record-sales-growth-amid-ceo-leave",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-08-28T17:58:55.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Finance",
    "slug": "yahoo-finance",
    "url": "https://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/articles/home-depot-hd-posts-record-175855722.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "On August 18, 2026, The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD) disclosed that its fiscal second-quarter net sales grew by 5.7% to $47.86 billion, marking the best comparable sales growth since 2022. CEO Ted Decker is currently on a temporary medical leave of absence, yet the company's results demonstrate that it can still perform well without its top executive. Home Depot's adjusted profit of $4.92 per share exceeded analysts' expectations of $4.73, with comparable sales rising 1.7%, surpassing the 0.9% forecast. The company received $730 million in tariff refunds, which were primarily used to reduce the cost of goods sold. Home Depot also expanded its Express Delivery service across the country, promising delivery within three hours. Despite this leadership gap, the company maintained its full-year sales growth forecast of 2.5% to 4.5%, indicating confidence in the business's ability to perform without a single person's influence. However, CFO Richard McPhail noted that Home Depot has yet to witness the combination of factors that would unlock bigger renovation projects, and consumer buying and selling patterns remain at a multi-year low. This suggests that the sales gain is primarily driven by smaller projects rather than the large-scale renovations that typically result in higher profit growth. Decker's medical leave introduces uncertainty for a company with 470,000 employees and over 2,300 stores. The absence of a clear successor to Decker could erode investor, worker, and Wall Street confidence, irrespective of the company's performance. While Home Depot's results indicate real resilience without its CEO present, the housing market conditions continue to constrain growth in bigger renovation spending. Although the potential of HD as an investment is acknowledged, this article suggests considering alternative AI stocks that may offer greater upside potential and lower downside risk.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}