CluenexThe Home Depot HD
The Home Depot scores average on business quality (4.8 of 10). Here is why, in plain words, and what our sealed record shows.
Why it matters
- What The Home Depot does
Home Depot sells home improvement products, tools, and construction materials through its vast store network to DIY consumers and professional contractors. High mortgage rates and stalled home remodeling demand weigh on current big-ticket project volumes.
- What it does best
Home Depot dominates the professional contractor market through localized fulfillment and credit services, generating $169B in revenue. Its operating margin of 12.4% outpaces Lowe's 11.4% by leveraging scale across a dense physical footprint that pure-play e-commerce cannot easily replicate.
- The main risk
High interest rates are foreclosing on the American dream of home remodeling, choking off discretionary big-ticket sales. If borrowing costs remain elevated, consumers will continue deferring major kitchen and bath overhauls that drive high-margin volume.
Quality, check by check
Scored against its own industry, from company filings.
Gross margin is 33.2% and operating margin is 12.4%, showing stable core efficiency. With free cash flow margin at 53rd sector percentile, the business generates strong cash but lacks rapid margin expansion in this environment.
Scale and supply chain density lock in professional contractors who rely on job-site delivery speed. Its operating margin sits in the middle of the pack at the 51st sector percentile, reflecting intense retail competition.
Revenue growth sits at 3.2%, reflecting a sluggish housing market. This rate is barely expanding compared to historical annual revenues of $159B in 2025 and $153B in 2024.
Total debt stands at $55.8B with an interest coverage ratio of 8.7x, meaning debt costs are manageable. Free cash flow of $15.1B supports $9.2B in dividends, keeping the balance sheet steady.
Insiders
Executives and directors, from SEC Form 4 filings we read ourselves. Open market trades only; grants, option exercises and pre-planned sales left out.
4 sold $3.3M outside pre-planned sales.
Our sealed record on HD
Verdicts appear here 30 days after we publish them; members see today's. Each one is in the nightly ledger, fingerprinted the night it was made.
The first sealed verdicts appear here on Oct 11, 2026.
Questions
The Home Depot scores average on the Cluenex quality check (4.8 of 10), measured against its own industry. Profitability is fair, moat fair, growth slow and financial health fair.
In the last 90 days of SEC Form 4 filings: 4 sold $3.3M outside pre-planned sales.
Nov 17, 2026.
See HD today
- Today's verdict on HD, and why
- Fair value with cautious, base and optimistic cases
- The exact price that would change the verdict
- Which stocks each signal names, the night it fires
Cite this page: Cluenex, “The Home Depot (HD)”, https://cluenex.com/stocks/hd/, data as of Oct 10, 2026.