Good morning. There’s a pattern showing up in nearly every set of numbers this month, and it’s one you should be measuring inside your own shop.
Top story — The growth is coming from price, not from more work
Home Depot’s second quarter looked healthy on the top line: sales of $47.9 billion, up 5.7%, with comparable sales up 1.7% (The Home Depot, Q2 fiscal 2026 results, 18 August 2026).
Underneath, the split is the whole story. Comparable customer transactions fell 1.0%. Comparable average ticket rose 2.8%, to $92.50. Total customer transactions were 443.2 million, down 0.8% year over year (Home Depot).
Fewer visits, more spent per visit. Chief Financial Officer Richard McPhail said the company “saw broad based demand across the business as customers continued to engage in smaller projects” (Home Depot).
Quick hits
It isn’t just retail. SiteOne Landscape Supply’s organic daily sales rose 1% in its second quarter — driven, in the company’s own words, “primarily by price inflation in response to rising costs,” partially offset by softer demand in new residential construction and repair-and-upgrade work (SiteOne Q2 2026 results, 29 July 2026).
Guidance says flat. Home Depot reaffirmed full-year comparable sales growth of approximately flat to 2.0% (Home Depot).
Home Depot is a roofing distributor now. It closed the quarter with over 1,340 SRS locations alongside 2,364 retail stores (Home Depot).
The Tip — Track job count separately from revenue
For the next 90 days, put two numbers side by side on one sheet: completed jobs per week, and revenue per week. Most shops only watch the second.
If revenue is up while job count is flat or falling, your growth is coming from price and ticket size. That is fine — until the price lever stops moving. It also changes what you do next. A ticket-driven business needs better estimating and add-on discipline. A volume-driven business needs marketing and dispatch capacity. Chasing the wrong one for two quarters is expensive.
Tool watch — [Not sponsored]
If your field software can’t show you jobs-completed-per-week without exporting to a spreadsheet, that’s the report to go build this week. It is usually a saved filter, not a new subscription.
That’s the callout. See you next time.
The Callout — the business brief for the trades. We label every commercial placement: [Sponsor], [Affiliate], or [Not sponsored]. Today’s Tool watch is our own honest read — no one paid for it. 231J Ramparts Road, Te Anau 9600, New Zealand · Unsubscribe anytime.
Sources: The Home Depot, Inc. — Second Quarter Fiscal 2026 Results, 18 August 2026 · SiteOne Landscape Supply, Inc. — Second Quarter 2026 Earnings, 29 July 2026.