HD · Consumer discretionary(retail-lumber & other building materials dealers) · 10 years of annual accounts filed with the SEC · latest fiscal year ended 2026-02-01
Home Depot, Inc. reported revenue of $164.7 billion in fiscal 2026, after growing 6.4% a year over the previous 9 years. Its operating margin narrowed from 14.2% in 2017 to 12.7%, and it earned 25.6% on its invested capital in the latest year. Of the $156.0 billion its operations generated over 10 years, 42.3% went to dividends and 40.2% to buybacks; the share count fell 19.4%. On the accounting screens, it passes 4 of 9 Piotroski tests, its Altman Z'' of 4.54 is in the safe zone and its Beneish M-score is below the -1.78 line; none of the six cross-checks between its statements fires.
Revenue, fiscal 2026164.7B+6.4% a year over 9 years
Operating margin12.7%gross margin 33.3%
Return on invested capital25.6%37.0% on average over 5 years
Free cash flow after stock pay12.1B7.4% of revenue
Net debt ÷ EBITDA2.0×net debt 48.0B
Piotroski F-score4/9tests of improvement passed
Is it growing?
Revenue and the operating income it turns into. Growth that does not reach operating income is growth bought with margin.
RevenueOperating income
050.0B100.0B150.0B200.0B
2017Revenue 94.6BOperating income 13.4B
2018Revenue 100.9BOperating income 14.7B
2019Revenue 108.2BOperating income 15.5B
2020Revenue 110.2BOperating income 15.8B
2021Revenue 132.1BOperating income 18.3B
2022Revenue 151.2BOperating income 23.0B
2023Revenue 157.4BOperating income 24.0B
2024Revenue 152.7BOperating income 21.7B
2025Revenue 159.5BOperating income 21.5B
2026Revenue 164.7BOperating income 20.9B
2017201820192020202120222023202420252026
Compound growth a year
3 yrs
5 yrs
9 yrs
Revenue
+1.5%
+4.5%
+6.4%
Operating income
-4.6%
+2.7%
+5.0%
Net income
-6.1%
+1.9%
+6.6%
Earnings per share
-5.2%
+3.6%
+9.2%
Free cash flow per share
+4.3%
-3.5%
+7.5%
Dividend per share
+6.6%
+9.0%
+14.3%
Shares
-1.0%
-1.6%
-2.4%
Falling shares are buybacks: each remaining share owns more of the company.
Does it earn more than its capital costs?
Margins say how much of each sale is kept; return on invested capital says how much the business earns on the money it needs to operate. Growth only creates value when that return is above the cost of the capital.
Return on invested capitalCost of capital today · 5.2%
0.0%20.0%40.0%60.0%
2017
2018
2019
2020Return on invested capital 45.9%
2021Return on invested capital 36.4%
2022Return on invested capital 50.2%
2023Return on invested capital 42.8%
2024Return on invested capital 38.2%
2025Return on invested capital 28.3%
2026Return on invested capital 25.6%
2017201820192020202120222023202420252026
Economic profit
Economic profit
05.0B10.0B15.0B20.0B
2017
2018
2019
2020Economic profit 10.7B
2021Economic profit 11.9B
2022Economic profit 15.6B
2023Economic profit 16.1B
2024Economic profit 14.2B
2025Economic profit 13.4B
2026Economic profit 12.6B
2017201820192020202120222023202420252026
(return on capital − cost of capital) × capital invested: the profit left after paying for the money used. Today's cost of capital is applied to every year, since a past one cannot be rebuilt honestly.
Return on equity
110.5%
Return on assets
13.5%
Asset turnover
1.57×
Overheads (SG&A)
18.6% of revenue
Is the profit cash, and where does the cash go?
Net income is an accounting opinion; free cash flow is what was left in the bank after investing. Stock-based pay does not leave the bank — shareholders pay it through dilution — so it is shown taken off as well.
Net incomeFree cash flowAfter stock-based pay
05.0B10.0B15.0B20.0B
2017Net income 8.0BFree cash flow 8.2BAfter stock-based pay 7.9B
2018Net income 8.6BFree cash flow 10.1BAfter stock-based pay 9.9B
2019Net income 11.1BFree cash flow 10.7BAfter stock-based pay 10.4B
2020Net income 11.2BFree cash flow 11.0BAfter stock-based pay 10.8B
2021Net income 12.9BFree cash flow 16.4BAfter stock-based pay 16.1B
2022Net income 16.4BFree cash flow 14.0BAfter stock-based pay 13.6B
2023Net income 17.1BFree cash flow 11.5BAfter stock-based pay 11.1B
2024Net income 15.1BFree cash flow 17.9BAfter stock-based pay 17.6B
2025Net income 14.8BFree cash flow 16.3BAfter stock-based pay 15.9B
2026Net income 14.2BFree cash flow 12.6BAfter stock-based pay 12.1B
2017201820192020202120222023202420252026
Where 10 years of operating cash went, 2017–2026
156.0B generated by the business. Each band is its share of that total.
Reinvested in the business 17%27.2B
Acquisitions 21%33.2B
Dividends 42%66.0B
Share buybacks 40%62.7B
More than it generated: funded with cash or new debt -21%-33.0B
Over the same years it paid 3.5B in stock. The share count fell 19.4%. 59.2B of the buybacks went beyond offsetting that dilution.
Per share
Earnings per shareFree cash flow per shareDividend per share
$0.00$5.00$10.00$15.00$20.00
2017Earnings per share $6.45Free cash flow per share $6.61Dividend per share $2.76
2018Earnings per share $7.29Free cash flow per share $8.56Dividend per share $3.56
2019Earnings per share $9.73Free cash flow per share $9.38Dividend per share $4.12
2020Earnings per share $10.25Free cash flow per share $10.04Dividend per share $5.43
2021Earnings per share $11.94Free cash flow per share $15.19Dividend per share $5.98
2022Earnings per share $15.53Free cash flow per share $13.24Dividend per share $6.60
2023Earnings per share $16.69Free cash flow per share $11.22Dividend per share $7.60
2024Earnings per share $15.11Free cash flow per share $17.91Dividend per share $8.37
2025Earnings per share $14.91Free cash flow per share $16.44Dividend per share $8.99
2026Earnings per share $14.23Free cash flow per share $12.71Dividend per share $9.20
2017201820192020202120222023202420252026
Shares outstanding
Diluted shares
900.0M1.0B1.1B1.2B1.3B
2017Diluted shares 1.2B
2018Diluted shares 1.2B
2019Diluted shares 1.1B
2020Diluted shares 1.1B
2021Diluted shares 1.1B
2022Diluted shares 1.1B
2023Diluted shares 1.0B
2024Diluted shares 1.0B
2025Diluted shares 993.0M
2026Diluted shares 995.0M
2017201820192020202120222023202420252026
How strong is the balance sheet?
Debt is not bad in itself; debt the business cannot service in a bad year is. Net debt is debt minus cash, and below zero the company holds more cash than it owes.
Net debt
020.0B40.0B60.0B
2017
2018
2019
2020Net debt 27.4B
2021Net debt 26.9B
2022Net debt 34.1B
2023Net debt 38.4B
2024Net debt 38.4B
2025Net debt 49.7B
2026Net debt 48.0B
2017201820192020202120222023202420252026
Net debt ÷ EBITDA
2.0×
Interest coverage
9× operating income ÷ interest
Current ratio
1.06 current assets ÷ current liabilities
Cash conversion cycle
60 days collects in 12d, stock 86d, pays in 38d
Three classic screens of the accounts
Each asks a different question of the same statements — is it improving, does it look like a company heading for distress, do the accounts resemble ones that were manipulated. None is a verdict; each shows what moves it.
Piotroski F-score
Is the business improving? Nine yes-or-no tests, this year against last.
4of 9 tests passed
✓ProfitableReturn on assets above zeropassed
✓Cash from operationsOperating cash flow above zeropassed
✕Profitability improvedReturn on assets higher than a year beforefailed
✓Profit backed by cashOperating cash flow above net income (low accruals)passed
✓Less long-term debtLong-term debt as a share of assets fellpassed
✕More liquidCurrent ratio higher than a year beforefailed
✕No new sharesShare count did not growfailed
✕Better gross marginGross margin higher than a year beforefailed
✕Sells more per assetAsset turnover higher than a year beforefailed
Where it misleads: it measures change, not level. An excellent business that stood still for a year scores low; a poor one recovering from a disaster scores high.
Altman Z''-score
Does the balance sheet look like those of companies that went bankrupt?
4.54safe zone
1.12.6
Working capital ÷ assets 0.02 × 6.56+0.12
Retained earnings ÷ assets 0.90 × 3.26+2.93
Operating income ÷ assets 0.20 × 6.72+1.34
Equity ÷ liabilities 0.14 × 1.05+0.15
Where it misleads: buybacks. A company that returns so much cash that its equity turns small or negative sinks the last two ratios without being anywhere near bankruptcy. Banks and insurers do not fit the model at all.
Beneish M-score
Do the accounts resemble those of companies that manipulated their earnings?
-2.43below the -1.78 line
-1.78
Receivables vs sales 1.11+1.02
Gross margin slipping 1.00+0.53
Soft assets 1.00 (not reported, set to 1)+0.40
Sales growth 1.03+0.92
Slower depreciation 1.00 (not reported, set to 1)+0.12
Overheads vs sales 1.03-0.18
Profit not in cash -0.02-0.10
Leverage rising 0.94-0.31
Where it misleads: fast growth and acquisitions. Sales growth carries a heavy weight, so a company growing 50% a year scores like a suspect without having done anything. It is a screen from a 1999 study, not an accusation.
Where the statements disagree
Cross-checks between the income statement, the balance sheet and the cash flow for the latest year, each with the benign reading and the worrying one.
None of the six cross-checks fires for the latest year: receivables and inventory move with revenue, profit turns into cash, investment keeps up with depreciation, the tax rate is ordinary and debt is moderate.
What is it worth, under which assumptions?
A company is worth the cash it will generate, brought back to today. This model projects revenue with growth that fades over the years, applies a free cash flow margin, and discounts the result at the cost of capital. Every assumption says where it came from, and all of them can be changed.
77% of the value comes from after year 10: this valuation rests mostly on the long run, which is exactly what is least known.
Value per share, with these assumptions$577.69discounted at 5.2% a year · 77% of it from after year 10
Type a share price on the left to ask the reverse questions: what growth, what margin or what discount rate that price implies.
What the value implies, in the usual multiples
At this model's value
Price ÷ earnings
40.6×
Enterprise value ÷ EBITDA
25.5×
Enterprise value ÷ revenue
3.8×
Free cash flow yield
2.1%
From cash flows to a value per share
10 years of cash flow, today140.8B
Everything after, today482.0B
The whole business622.8B
Minus net debt-48.0B
What belongs to shareholders574.8B
Divided among 995.0M shares: <strong>$577.69</strong> each.
The projection next to its history
Reported free cash flow after stock pay, then the model's. A projection that looks nothing like the past needs a reason.
ReportedProjected
010.0B20.0B30.0B
2017Reported 7.9B
2018Reported 9.9B
2019Reported 10.4B
2020Reported 10.8B
2021Reported 16.1B
2022Reported 13.6B
2023Reported 11.1B
2024Reported 17.6B
2025Reported 15.9B
2026Reported 12.1B
2027Projected 15.8B
2028Projected 16.5B
2029Projected 17.2B
2030Projected 17.8B
2031Projected 18.5B
2032Projected 19.1B
2033Projected 19.7B
2034Projected 20.3B
2035Projected 20.8B
2036Projected 21.3B
2017201920212023202520272029203120332035
Year by year
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034
2035
2036
Revenue
172.1B
179.5B
186.7B
193.9B
200.9B
207.7B
214.3B
220.6B
226.6B
232.3B
Growth
4.5%
4.3%
4.1%
3.8%
3.6%
3.4%
3.2%
2.9%
2.7%
2.5%
Cash margin
9.2%
9.2%
9.2%
9.2%
9.2%
9.2%
9.2%
9.2%
9.2%
9.2%
Free cash flow
15.8B
16.5B
17.2B
17.8B
18.5B
19.1B
19.7B
20.3B
20.8B
21.3B
Worth today
15.0B
14.9B
14.7B
14.5B
14.3B
14.1B
13.8B
13.5B
13.2B
12.8B
If the least-known inputs move
Value per share as two inputs change at a time. Neighbouring cells that differ a lot are the conclusion: the value depends on numbers nobody knows to a point.
The discount rate and growth forever
discount ↓ · forever →
1.5%
2.0%
2.5%
3.0%
3.5%
4.2%
600
732
940
1,318
2,212
4.7%
499
588
718
922
1,293
5.2%
425
490
578
705
906
5.7%
368
416
480
566
691
6.2%
324
361
408
470
555
Year-one growth and the final margin
margin ↓ · growth →
0.5%
2.5%
4.5%
6.5%
8.5%
7.3%
381
421
466
513
565
8.3%
427
473
522
575
632
9.2%
473
523
578
636
700
10.1%
520
575
634
698
768
11.0%
566
626
690
760
835
All the inputs moving at once
4,689 valuations, each with growth, final margin, discount rate and growth forever drawn at random around the values on the left (spreads of 3.0%, 2.0%, 1.0% and 0.5%). Not a probability — the spreads are assumptions too — but an honest picture of how wide the answer is.
10th percentile$321.14
Median$556.96
90th percentile$1,077.62
$500.00$1,000.00$1,500.00
Half of the simulations land between <b>$416.39</b> and <b>$776.08</b>; one in ten below $321.14, one in ten above $1,077.62.
Does the long run make sense?
23.3×The terminal value prices the business in year 10 at 23.3 times that year's EBITDA.
52%To grow 2.5% forever while reinvesting 5% of its after-tax operating profit, the business must earn 52% on the new capital — it has earned 37% on average over the last five years.
77%of the value comes from after year 10. The more of it, the more the answer depends on the part nobody can see.
Accounts from the company's own SEC filings; lines some companies do not report are shown as a dash rather than estimated. The risk-free rate is the 10-year US Treasury yield. A DCF is a way of making assumptions explicit, not a forecast: it states what the company would be worth if the assumptions held. The scores are screens that point where to look, not verdicts. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell.