The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust made a notable portfolio move in Q2, opening a new $352.7 million position in Home Depot (HD) while trimming its Berkshire Hathaway stake by roughly $818 million. HD was trading at $334.49 as of August 20, down 1.41% year-to-date and 14.53% over the past year.
The trust now holds 1 million shares of Home Depot. The portfolio it sits in manages $34.42 billion in 13F securities, so this is a deliberate opening position, not a casual add.
The move came just days after Home Depot posted its Q2 fiscal 2026 results on August 18. Net sales came in at $47.9 billion, up 5.7% year-over-year. Comparable sales growth hit 1.7%, the strongest reading since 2022. Adjusted diluted EPS of $4.92 beat the consensus estimate of $4.73 by $0.19.
The Gates Foundation also opened a new position in FedEx Freight Holding Company worth approximately $180 million in the same quarter, pointing to a broader tilt toward domestic infrastructure and physical asset businesses.
CFO Richard McPhail was direct about the environment on the earnings call. “We continue to operate in what I call frozen housing market conditions,” he said, while noting the company is “taking share” and “serving customers better every day.”
The comparable sales growth isn’t coming from a housing recovery. It’s being driven by smaller, non-discretionary repairs and maintenance. When a roof leaks or a water heater fails, it gets fixed, regardless of mortgage rates.
Home Depot also received $730 million in tariff refunds during Q2. It used $685 million of that to reduce cost of goods sold, passing savings through to customers in a move similar to Walmart’s approach.
The company reaffirmed its fiscal 2026 guidance, calling for total sales growth of 2.5% to 4.5% and comparable sales growth of flat to 2.0%. Gross margin is projected at around 33.1%, with operating margin between 12.4% and 12.6%.
Bank of America analyst Christopher Nardone reiterated a Buy rating and trimmed his price target slightly to $407 from $412. The reduction reflects the cautious guidance Home Depot held rather than raised. Argus reaffirmed a Buy with a $400 target. UBS cut its target from $430 to $420 but kept a Buy rating. Sanford C. Bernstein held a Market Perform with a $354 target. RBC lowered its target to $342.
Across 32 analysts, HD carries a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with an average target price of $375.54.
The board declared a quarterly dividend of $2.33 per share, payable September 17 to holders of record on September 3. That works out to a 2.8% annualized yield.
CFO Richard McPhail sold 5,989 shares on August 19 at an average price of $348.40, reducing his position by 11.07%. He still directly owns 48,104 shares worth approximately $16.76 million.
HD opened at $336.04 on Friday, with a 52-week range of $289.10 to $426.75.
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