Home Depot stock (NYSE: HD) ended Tuesday’s regular session modestly lower, then stabilized in after-hours trading as investors headed into a holiday-shortened Christmas Eve session.
Shares closed at $344.97, down $1.42 (-0.41%) versus Monday’s close, and were slightly higher after hours at about $345.29 as of early evening Eastern time. [1]
With U.S. equity markets scheduled to close early on Wednesday, Dec. 24, trading conditions—and potential volatility—look different than a normal midweek session. [2]
Below is what’s driving the conversation around Home Depot tonight, what changed in the news cycle today, and the most important data points to track before the opening bell tomorrow.
Home Depot stock price after the bell: where HD stands tonight
End-of-day snapshot (Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025):
- Close: $344.97 (down 0.41%) [3]
- After-hours: about $345.29 (fractionally higher) [4]
- Day range: $341.94 to $347.50 [5]
- 52-week range: $326.31 to $426.75 [6]
- Market cap: about $343.4 billion [7]
- Dividend yield: about 2.67% [8]
Context matters: at Tuesday’s close, HD sat roughly 19% below its 52-week high and about 6% above its 52-week low, underscoring how much of 2025’s narrative has been about “when housing normalizes” rather than a straight-line recovery.
Why Home Depot underperformed today even as the broader market pushed higher
While Home Depot slipped, major benchmarks were firm: the S&P 500 ended up about 0.45% and the Nasdaq gained about 0.57%, with headlines pointing to optimism around 2026 earnings growth and rate-cut expectations. [9]
Home Depot’s day looked more like a “positioning + macro sensitivity” story than a company-specific headline shock:
1) Consumer mood took a hit today—and HD is tied to consumer confidence
A key piece of U.S. macro news on Tuesday was December consumer confidence falling to 89.1, below economists’ expectations, with households citing worries about jobs, income, inflation, tariffs/trade, and personal finances. [10]
For Home Depot, that matters because big-ticket projects (kitchens, flooring, remodeling) tend to track confidence and financing conditions. When consumers get cautious, they often defer discretionary renovations—especially in a higher-rate world.
2) Rates still sit at the center of the HD debate
Markets have been trading on the idea that interest-rate cuts in 2026 could support growth stocks and cyclicals, even as the economy sends mixed signals. [11]
Home Depot is not a “rates trade” in the same way as homebuilders, but mortgage rates and housing turnover are critical to the chain’s cycle. A meaningful pickup in existing-home moves can pull demand forward for appliances, paint, fixtures, and pro contracting jobs.
3) Holiday-week liquidity changes the tape
Late December sessions can exaggerate stock moves because fewer large participants are active. That tends to show up as:
- wider bid/ask spreads
- faster intraday swings around macro prints
- outsized reactions to analyst notes and options positioning
Which brings us to the most “stock-specific” items that did hit the wires today.
The main HD-specific items published today: analyst target move and options positioning
There was no major Home Depot corporate announcement on Dec. 23, but two market-facing developments circulated in trading commentary:
Wolfe Research nudged its price target higher
One widely shared note said Wolfe Research raised its price target to $415 from $414 while maintaining an “outperform” rating. [12]
A one-dollar target change is not a thesis shift on its own—but in a low-liquidity week, even small “re-affirmation” signals can influence flows, particularly in mega-cap retail names held broadly by institutions.
Options traders leaned defensive (or hedged) into year-end
A separate market note flagged unusually high put activity in HD options—roughly 46,941 put contracts, about 47% above typical daily put volume, according to that report. [13]
Important nuance: elevated put buying doesn’t always mean outright bearish bets. It can also reflect:
- portfolio hedging into a holiday-shortened session
- structured trades tied to year-end rebalancing
- hedges against macro releases (jobless claims, rates, inflation chatter)
Still, it’s a data point suggesting investors are not treating the near-term outlook as “all clear.”
The bigger story still shaping HD: management’s 2026 outlook and what “recovery” means
Even though it wasn’t released today, the market is still digesting Home Depot’s early-December strategic update—because it effectively frames what investors expect HD to deliver next year.
At its strategic update and investor conference earlier this month, Home Depot:
- Reaffirmed fiscal 2025 guidance, including total sales growth of ~3% and adjusted EPS expected to decline ~5% year over year [14]
- Issued a preliminary fiscal 2026 outlook calling for:
- home improvement market in a range of -1% to +1%
- comparable sales approximately flat to +2%
- total sales growth approximately +2.5% to +4.5%
- EPS growth approximately flat to +4% [15]
Reuters characterized that 2026 view as below analyst expectations at the time, pointing to weakened DIY demand and continued pressure on larger-ticket projects. [16]
Barron’s coverage similarly emphasized that Home Depot was signaling the industry recovery is still not immediate, even as management highlighted long-term pent-up demand as a potential tailwind when housing finally loosens. [17]
Why this matters for Wednesday’s open: HD’s day-to-day moves often look small, but the stock’s valuation and direction depend on whether investors believe 2026 is a “flat year” or the beginning of a multi-year upcycle tied to housing turnover.
Where Wall Street forecasts sit tonight: targets, ratings, and the “spread” investors should notice
One of the clearest ways to see investor disagreement is the range of price targets.
A consolidated analyst view tracked by Stock Analysis shows:
- Consensus rating: “Buy”
- Average 12-month price target:$421.33 (implying ~22% upside from current levels)
- Low target: $350
- High target: $497 [18]
That wide spread is the signal—not just the average. It suggests analysts broadly agree Home Depot is high-quality, but they differ on the timing and magnitude of a housing-linked demand rebound.
What to know before the stock market opens tomorrow, Dec. 24, 2025
Wednesday isn’t a typical session. Here are the practical, high-impact items for anyone following Home Depot stock into the open.
1) The NYSE and Nasdaq close early (and that changes how HD trades)
U.S. equity markets are scheduled to close at 1:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. [19]
Two implications for HD shareholders and traders:
- Price moves can appear “larger” on less volume. A modest institutional order can move the tape more than usual.
- Late-day liquidity is compressed. If volatility pops, it may happen earlier than normal—closer to the open and mid-morning.
2) Bond market timing matters, too
SIFMA’s recommendation indicates the U.S. bond market observes an early close at 2:00 p.m. ET on Dec. 24. [20]
That matters because rates and bond yields feed directly into the “housing affordability” conversation that investors use to handicap Home Depot.
3) The main scheduled U.S. macro print to watch: jobless claims
Econoday’s calendar lists jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. ET on Dec. 24, alongside the holiday-shortened market schedule. [21]
For Home Depot specifically, a labor-market surprise can move the stock via:
- consumer spending expectations
- interest-rate expectations (yields)
- the broader “soft landing vs. slowdown” narrative
4) There is no “new HD catalyst” scheduled overnight—so macro and positioning lead
Home Depot’s next major fundamental catalyst is its next earnings release window in late February.
Investing.com lists Home Depot’s next earnings report date as Feb. 24, 2026. [22]
So into Wednesday’s open, expect the stock to trade primarily on:
- macro headlines (confidence, labor, rates)
- holiday-week liquidity effects
- sector sympathy with housing and retail peers
- any late-breaking analyst notes
Bottom line heading into Wednesday’s open
Home Depot stock is ending Dec. 23 in a familiar place: stable, defensive, and still tethered to the housing cycle.
After-hours action looks calm tonight, but the setup for Wednesday is unusual:
- a short session (early close)
- a thin liquidity environment
- a market still weighing 2026 recovery timing
- fresh evidence of cautious positioning in options
If you’re watching HD tomorrow, the most actionable approach is to track rates, jobless claims, and any sudden shifts in consumer-demand expectations—because those are the levers most likely to move Home Depot stock before the Christmas break.
References
1. www.google.com, 2. www.nyse.com, 3. www.google.com, 4. www.google.com, 5. www.google.com, 6. www.google.com, 7. www.google.com, 8. www.google.com, 9. www.reuters.com, 10. www.reuters.com, 11. www.reuters.com, 12. www.marketbeat.com, 13. www.marketbeat.com, 14. ir.homedepot.com, 15. ir.homedepot.com, 16. www.reuters.com, 17. www.barrons.com, 18. stockanalysis.com, 19. www.nyse.com, 20. www.sifma.org, 21. us.econoday.com, 22. www.investing.com
