New York, Jan 13, 2026, 19:28 EST — After-hours
- Home Depot shares climbed 1.3% on Tuesday, despite the broader market dipping.
- The retailer and Google Cloud extended their partnership, focusing on fresh “agentic AI” tools and upgrades to the Magic Apron assistant.
- Investors will turn their attention to Home Depot’s earnings report on Feb. 24, anticipating insights on its outlook and demand patterns.
Home Depot shares climbed for the fourth day in a row Tuesday, bucking the broader market’s decline. The stock closed up 1.28% at $379.74 on around 4.7 million shares traded and held steady in after-hours trading, still roughly 11% below its 52-week peak. (MarketWatch)
Home Depot is making this move as it works to keep both shoppers and contractors spending in a housing market still struggling to stabilize. Back in December, the company projected fiscal 2026 comparable sales—also known as same-store sales—to be anywhere from flat to up 2%. It also forecast adjusted earnings per share to hold steady or rise by up to 4%. (Reuters)
That context explains why investors are focused on the retailer’s efforts to digitize service and capture a bigger share of the “pros,” its higher-spending contractor segment. This week’s announcements put a heavy emphasis on artificial intelligence, or AI, aiming to handle product queries, generate materials lists, and streamline delivery operations.
At the NRF 2026 retail conference in New York, Home Depot and Google Cloud announced they’re stepping up their partnership with new “agentic AI” tools—software that can actively complete tasks instead of just reacting to commands. Home Depot plans to broaden its Magic Apron assistant and introduce AI-driven product list builders specifically for pros. The company also intends to integrate these capabilities with Google’s AI Mode in Search and the Gemini app in the coming months. “We’re putting ‘Orange Apron’ expertise in the pocket of every customer,” said Jordan Broggi, Home Depot’s head of customer experience and online business. (The Home Depot)
AI coaching firm Rilla announced Tuesday it’s rolling out real-time coaching tools for Home Depot’s service and sales teams. The technology will track communication and service trends, aiming to boost team performance. Rilla CEO Sebastian Jimenez expressed enthusiasm about the partnership, saying they’re “thrilled to partner” with Home Depot to provide tools that enhance team effectiveness. (PR Newswire)
Home Depot rolled out a Creator Portal aimed at linking digital creators with the company for campaigns and product-focused content, a press release said. “It isn’t just a website — it’s a community,” said Molly Battin, Home Depot’s senior vice president and chief marketing officer. (Retail Customer Experience)
The initiatives may be modest individually, but combined they reveal the company’s focus: service, speed, and streamlining the online journey from “idea” to checkout. Home Depot is banking on these areas as it awaits a pickup in the home improvement market.
But the real wildcard remains whether housing activity and bigger renovation projects gain real traction. New tools take a while to hit the market, and if demand stays concentrated on repairs rather than remodels, customer habits might not shift fast.
Home Depot’s after-hours trading remained subdued, reflecting a preference among some investors for actual figures over product demos. The upcoming quarterly report stands as the next key catalyst, where the company usually revises its outlook on sales, margins, and the speed of any recovery.
Home Depot will release its earnings on Feb. 24 at 9:00 a.m. ET, per its investor relations calendar. Investors will focus on comparable sales, the performance of its professional customer segment, and the rollout pace of new AI tools in stores and online. (Homedepot)
