Home improvement retailer Lowe's reported its fourth-quarter results Wednesday morning following mixed results from rival Home Depot last week. Lowe's stock retreated Wednesday after inching up in premarket trading.
Lowe's earnings accelerated for the third quarter in a row, jumping 28% to $2.28 per share as revenue climbed 5.2% to $22.445 billion. The adjusted earnings results excluded pretax transaction costs associated with selling its Canadian retail business, after offloading it to private-equity firm Sycamore Partners for $400 million in cash in November.
The FactSet consensus projected a 24% earnings increase to $2.21 per share on 6.4% revenue growth to $22.7 billion.
Lowe's comparable sales fell 1.5% for the fourth quarter while U.S. comparable sales dipped 0.7%. FactSet projected flat growth year-over-year.
For fiscal 2023, Lowe's forecasts earnings to range from $13.60 to $14 per share on $88 billion to $90 billion in total sales. For full-year 2022, Lowe's earnings were $13.76 per share on $97 billion in sales. Management expects slower foot traffic to continue throughout the year. The home retailer sees comparable sales being flat to down 2% year-over-year
Lowe's Stock
Lowe's stock fell roughly 5.6% to 194.31 on Wednesday after nudging up 0.5% in up-and-down premarket trading following the earnings results. Shares have been consolidating following an early February breakout. LOW stock fell more than 8% from the buy point after the breakout, triggering the automatic sell rule.
Lowe's stock is down 2.5% so far this year.
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