A customer pushes a shopping cart toward the entrance to a Lowe’s store in Concord, California, on Tuesday, February 23, 2021.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Louie Wednesday missed Wall Street’s first-quarter sales forecast, as cold spring weather hit demand for supplies for outdoor “do-it-yourself” projects.
Shares are down more than 2% in pre-market trading.
The company reiterated its full-year forecast, saying it expects total sales to be between $97 billion and $99 billion and same-store sales to range from a 1% decline to a 1% increase.
Here’s what the company reported for the quarter ending April 29 compared to what Wall Street had been expecting, based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv:
- EPS: 3.51 USD vs. 3.22 USD expected
- Revenue: $23.66 billion vs. $23.76 billion forecast
Lowe’s results differed from those of her competitor, Home Depot. On Tuesday, Home Depot stock soared More than Wall Street forecast for quarterly earnings and revenue, leading to its further growth to home value appreciation and the prosperity of home professionals’ ventures.
However, Lowe’s has a different mix of its businesses. Historically, it has gotten about 75% to 80% of its total sales from DIY customers compared to Home Depot, from which it gets about half of its sales. This makes Lowe’s more vulnerable to shifts in demand, if homeowners decide to skip a painting or landscaping project.
“Our sales this quarter were in line with our expectations, with the exception of seasonal outdoor categories affected by the unusually cold temperatures in April,” CEO Marvin Ellison said in a earnings statement Wednesday morning. “Now that spring has finally come, we are pleased with the improved sales trends we are seeing in May.”
Lowe’s net income for the quarter rose slightly to $2.33 billion, or $3.51 per share, from $2.32 billion, or $3.21 per share, a year ago. The results were higher than the $3.22 forecast by analysts surveyed by Refinitiv.
Net sales fell to $23.66 billion from $24.42 billion last year, exceeding analysts’ expectations of $23.76 billion.
Same-store sales fell 4% year-over-year, a larger drop than the 2.5% drop analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount.
As of Tuesday’s close, Lowe’s shares are down about 25% so far this year. Shares closed Tuesday at $194.03, bringing the company’s market capitalization to $128.27 billion.
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