Lowe’s on Wednesday stood by its full-year forecast, as growing sales among home professionals helped offset slower demand from do-it-yourself customers.
The home improvement retailer came in just shy of Wall Street’s expectations for quarterly sales, but beat earnings estimates.
Shares of Lowe’s rose nearly 3% in premarket trading Wednesday.
In the company’s news release, CEO Marvin Ellison said investments in its stores, technology and customer service have helped the retailer get through “near-term uncertainty and housing market headwinds.”
Home improvement demand has been in a sluggish stretch as high interest rates and slower housing turnover ding U.S. consumers’ appetite to spend on pricier projects. Yet with its outlook, Lowe’s predicted it will snap out of the sales slump this year.
Lowe’s said it expects full-year total sales to range from $83.5 billion to $84.5 billion, which on the upper end would be higher than its total revenue of $83.67 billion for fiscal 2024. It said it projects comparable sales to be flat to up 1% year over year and earnings per share to range from approximately $12.15 to $12.40.
Here’s what the company reported for the fiscal first quarter compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:
- Earnings per share: $2.92 vs. $2.88 expected
- Revenue: $20.93 billion vs. $20.94 billion expected
In the three-month period that ended May 2, Lowe’s net income fell to $1.64 billion, or $2.92 per share, compared with $1.76 billion, or $3.06 per share, in the year-ago quarter.
Comparable sales decreased 1.7% year over year. Weather hurt sales demand, but sales on Lowe’s website and among home professionals grew, the company said in a press release.
Like Lowe’s, competitor Home Depot reaffirmed its full-year forecast earlier this week and posted year-over-year comparable sales declines. Home Depot’s fiscal first quarter also got a significant lift from SRS Distribution, a company it acquired that sells supplies to home professionals in roofing, pools and landscaping.
Both companies have tried to attract more sales from home professionals to offset softer sales with do-it-yourself customers. Lowe’s announced in April that it was acquiring Artisan Design Group, a company that provides design services and installation of flooring, cabinets and countertops for homebuilders and property managers, in a $1.3 billion deal.
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