Lowe’s third-quarter profit handily topped Wall Street’s view, thanks in part to strong economic conditions and sales to contractors. The home-improvement company boosted its full-year adjusted earnings outlook.
Shares jumped more than 5% before the opening bell on Wednesday.
The announcement comes a day after disappointing results from rival Home Depot, which reported its third-quarter revenue missed analysts’ estimates and cut its full-year sales forecast.
The contrasting quarterly performances highlight the increasing competition between Home Depot and Lowe’s, which is in the process of an overhaul under its new CEO Marvin Ellison.
Ellison, a one-time Home Depot executive who took the top job at Lowe’s last year, is trying to reshape the culture at Lowe’s, which had been a distant second to Home Depot in the sector for a while. Ellison’s moves are starting to gain traction, and Lowe’s is beginning to close the gap.
Lowe’s Cos. earned $1.05 billion, or $1.36 per share, for the three months ended Nov. 1. The Mooresville, North Carolina-based company earned $629 million, or 78 cents per share, a year earlier.
Earnings, adjusted for restructuring costs, were $1.41 per share. That easily beat the $1.35 per share that analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research were calling for.
Revenue totaled $17.39 billion, below Wall Street’s forecast of $17.69 billion.
Sales at stores open at least a year rose 2.2%. In the U.S., the figure climbed 3%. This metric is a key gauge of a retailer’s health because it excludes results from stores recently opened or closed.
Lowe’s now anticipates full-year adjusted earnings in a range of $5.63 to $5.70 per share. Its prior forecast was for earnings of $5.45 to $5.65 per share. Analysts polled by FactSet predict full-year earnings of $5.67 per share.
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Portions of this story were generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on LOW at https://www.zacks.com/ap/LOW