NEW YORK, January 3, 2026, 14:16 ET — Market closed
- Home Depot shares ended Friday up 0.5% at $345.82, in the year’s first trading session.
- Wall Street started 2026 with a modest rebound as traders looked ahead to next week’s labor-market data.
- Investors are weighing when housing activity and big-ticket renovation demand will turn, after Home Depot set a cautious 2026 outlook in December.
Home Depot shares finished Friday up 0.5% at $345.82, after trading between $341.10 and $348.40. U.S. markets are closed Saturday.
The move matters because Home Depot sits at the intersection of housing and consumer spending, two areas investors expect to be sensitive to interest-rate shifts in early 2026.
When mortgage rates stay high, homeowners tend to move less and delay major projects, which can pressure demand for big-ticket home-improvement purchases. When rates fall and home sales pick up, spending on renovation and repair often follows.
Home Depot in December forecast fiscal 2026 comparable (same-store) sales growth of flat to 2% — a gauge of growth at locations open at least a year — and adjusted earnings per share (EPS), a profit measure that strips out certain items, of flat to 4% higher. The company said it had not yet seen a catalyst or inflection in housing activity.
The broader market backdrop was constructive on Friday, with the Dow and S&P 500 ending higher while the Nasdaq edged down slightly. Joe Mazzola, head of trading & derivatives strategist at Charles Schwab, described a “buy the dip, sell the rip” mindset — Wall Street shorthand for buying pullbacks and selling quick rallies. Reuters
Home Depot’s smaller gain lagged its closest big-box peer: Lowe’s rose 2.4% to $246.89 on Friday.
For Home Depot investors, the near-term question is whether early-2026 data show a turn in “large project” demand — the discretionary, higher-value jobs that have been slow to recover.
Tariff policy is also back on the screen for housing-linked retailers. The White House said it delayed planned tariff increases on categories including kitchen cabinets and vanities for another year, a move traders watched as it ripples through sourcing costs for home-related goods.
The stock’s muted reaction underscores how much of the debate has shifted from day-to-day retail headlines to macro signals — rates, housing turnover and labor conditions — that can change the spending outlook quickly.
Before the next session, traders will focus on next week’s labor-market data and what it implies for the Federal Reserve’s rate path, a key driver of housing affordability and renovation appetite.
On the company calendar, Home Depot has not yet posted details of its next earnings event on its investor-relations events page.
Market calendars, which can differ from company announcements, currently point to late February for the next report; Nasdaq shows an algorithm-based estimate of Feb. 24.
Technically, traders often treat the $350 level as a near-term marker. Friday’s high and low provide the closest reference points for momentum buyers and sellers heading into Monday’s open.
Beyond the next few sessions, investors will keep coming back to the same set of variables: whether housing activity finally inflects, and whether Home Depot can convert that into higher transaction counts and larger project spending as 2026 unfolds.
