A Lowe’s store stands in Brooklyn on February 27, 2024 in New York City.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
Lowe’s topped Wall Street’s quarterly earnings and revenue expectations on Wednesday and said its sales slump should end in the year ahead.
The company said it expects full-year total sales 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 expects comparable sales to be flat to up 1% year over year and earnings per share to range from approximately $12.15 to $12.40.
On the company’s earnings call, CEO Marvin Ellison stressed that Lowe’s still faces “a challenging home improvement market.”
He said high mortgage rates have created “a significant gap between today’s rates for homebuyers and the lower rates many homeowners currently enjoy.” That’s led to a “lock-in effect,” which has kept consumers from buying and selling, he said.
Even so, he said, Lowe’s has pressed ahead with its own strategy, so it is “well-positioned to capitalize on the home improvement recovery and take share when the market inflects.”
Here’s what the company reported for the fiscal fourth quarter compared with what Wall Street expected, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:
Earnings per share: $1.93 adjusted vs. $1.84 expectedRevenue: $18.55 billion vs. $18.29 billion expected
Lowe’s shares rose more than 2% in early trading, after the company’s leaders said they expected sales trends to improve, but still be roughly flat from last year.
In the three-month period that ended Jan. 31, Lowe’s net income was $1.13 billion, or $1.99 per share, compared with $1.02 billion, or $1.77 per share, in the year-ago period. Revenue fell from $18.60 billion in the year-ago quarter.
Lowe’s adjusted earnings per share figure excluded an $80 million pretax gain associated with the 2022 sale of its Canadian retail business, which added 6 cents per share to fourth-quarter earnings.
Investors are looking for signs that the home improvement market will pick up again. Slower housing turnover and higher borrowing costs have kept some customers on the sidelines. Lowe’s net sales for the 2024 fiscal year totaled $83.67 billion, down 3% from the prior fiscal year.
In the fiscal fourth quarter, trends looked better. Comparable sales rose 0.2%, boosted by online gains, high single-digit growth among home professionals and sales related to rebuilding efforts after hurricanes Milton and Helene. That slightly positive metric ended eight consecutive quarters of comparable sales declines. It also exceeded Wall Street’s expectations. Analysts had anticipated a 1.8% decline in comparable sales.
Even so, Lowe’s leaders said they have not seen changes in the housing backdrop. Ellison said the company is closely tracking two factors that would indicate a return to more typical home improvement spending: an increase in do-it-yourself spending on pricier merchandise and more services spending, such as paying for home installations.
On the earnings call, CFO Brandon Sink said the retailer expects a “roughly flat” home improvement market this year, with sales from home professionals outpacing do-it-yourself customers because of repair and maintenance projects.
He said the company is investing in “sales and traffic-driving actions,” especially as it gears up with its key spring selling season.
Lowe’s competitor, Home Depot, narrowly beat Wall Street’s fourth-quarter estimates on Tuesday and also snapped an eight consecutive quarter losing streak with comparable sales. Yet Home Depot CFO Richard McPhail said the company doesn’t expect the housing market or mortgage rates to change. Instead, he told CNBC that he thinks consumers will gradually get used to elevated rates as “a new normal.”
Shares of Lowe’s closed Tuesday at $242.39. As of Tuesday’s close, shares of the company have fallen nearly 2% this year. That trails behind the approximately 2% gains of the S&P 500 during the same period.
