Lowe’s Cos LOW-N missed Wall Street estimates for third-quarter comparable sales on Wednesday, as customers remained wary of spending on big-ticket home remodels amid economic uncertainty and elevated borrowing costs.
Home-improvement industry bellwether Home Depot cut its annual forecasts a day earlier, citing consumer worries over cost-of-living pressures and employment.
Lowe’s shares, which fell on Tuesday following Home Depot’s dour report, rose 5 per cent in premarket trading on Wednesday as the company raised its annual sales target to US$86-billion, from a prior range of US$84.5-billion to US$85.5-billion.
The home improvement retailer, however, trimmed its annual adjusted earnings-per-share forecast to about US$12.25, compared with its prior target of US$12.20 to US$12.45.
Same-store sales rose 0.4 per cent in the quarter ended October 31, compared with analysts’ average estimate of a 1-per-cent growth, according to data compiled by LSEG.