Lowe's Reports 3% Net Sales Increase; Comparable Sales Fall Short of Expectations -- Earnings Review
May 23 2018 - 6:57AM
Dow Jones News
By Allison Prang
Lowe's Companies Inc. released its first-quarter financial
results before the market opened Wednesday. Here's what you need to
know.
NET SALES: Lowe's reported net sales of $17.36 billion, up 3%
from the same quarter the year before. Analysts polled by Thomson
Reuters were expecting revenue of $17.46 billion.
COMPARABLE SALES: Lowe's said comparable sales rose 0.6%. U.S.
home-improvement comparable sales rose 0.5%. Analysts polled by
Consensus Metrix were expecting comparable sales to increase by
2.2%.
PROFIT: The company made $988 million, or $1.19 a share, up 64%
from $602 million, or 70 cents a share. Its bottom line this
quarter wasn't impacted by a $464 million loss on extinguishment of
debt that weighed on the company's profits in the same quarter the
year before. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting the
company to make $1.22 a share on an adjusted basis, up from the
$1.03 a share on an adjusted basis that Lowe's reported for the
same quarter in 2017. Analysts were expecting profits of $1.21 a
share on a reported basis.
COMMENTARY: "Prolonged unfavorable weather across geographies
led to a delayed spring selling season which impacted results in
outdoor categories," Chief Executive Robert Niblock said in
prepared remarks.
GUIDANCE: Lowe's expects sales for the 2018 fiscal year to
increase by about 5% compared with the prior year, and for
comparable sales to rise by about 3.5%. The company is also guiding
for earnings of between $5.40 and $5.50 a share, and expects its
operating margin to decline by about 40 basis points. Lowe's also
said it aims to add 10 hardware and home-improvement stores.
Shares of Lowe's fell 2.6% in low-volume premarket trading. Year
to date, they have fallen 7.7%.
Write to Allison Prang at allison.prang@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 23, 2018 06:42 ET (10:42 GMT)
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