The latest filings covering President Donald Trump’s assets show that securities held on his behalf included purchases of Mastercard (NYSE: MA) and Home Depot (NYSE: HD) in June. The Q2 filings also show Home Depot among the holdings of the Bill Gates Foundation Trust, while billionaire investor Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square initiated a new position in Mastercard during the quarter.
The disclosure covers the president’s transactions for June 2026 and was recently filed with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics. The disclosures showed over 1,000 separate transactions for the month.
In this article, we will analyze Home Depot, which is gaining attention as bulls believe the stock is set to rebound amid a potential recovery in the housing market. HD is down about 17% over the past year.
HD is struggling because of slow housing activity amid high mortgage rates. But bulls say the housing market recovers sooner or later. Rates come down, the lock-in effect breaks, and the missing million transactions come back. Home Depot would be a major beneficiary of that upcoming trend.
Pixabay/Public Domain
Until then, the company is leaning on its Pro business. Pro means sales to professional customers — contractors, builders, roofers, plumbers, electricians. They buy in volume, buy repeatedly, and buy because it is their job. A big share of that work is repair and maintenance that has to get done regardless of the economy or mortgage rates.
Home Depot grew comparable sales 1.7% in the quarter against 0.2% at Lowe’s. Gross margin rose 26 basis points to 33.67% while Lowe’s fell 77 basis points to 33.04%. Home Depot reaffirmed full-year guidance for sales growth of 2.5% to 4.5%. Lowe’s cut to the bottom of its range and moved comparable sales from up 2% to flat.
The Bear Case
Bears say the quarter was helped by a one-time tariff refund. They also say mortgage rates are not expected to decline anytime soon amid elevated inflation pressures. The odds of a September rate hike are increasing, while latest retail earnings show consumers are finally pulling back.
Valuation
HD’s forward non-GAAP P/E is 22.35, essentially identical to the 22.46 five-year average, because earnings estimates came down alongside the price. Against a consumer discretionary sector median of 16.10, that is a 38.8% premium. Forward EV/EBITDA of 15.45 runs 58.6% above the sector median of 9.74.
While we acknowledge the risk and potential of HD as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than HD and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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