Company Reports

Lowe's is the second-largest home improvement retailer globally, set to capture around $92 billion in sales in fiscal 2026. With a perpetual focus on retail fundamentals (merchandising, operational efficiency, supply chain improvements, omnichannel shopping experience, and customer engagement), Lowe's has been able to manage costs while maintaining its low-cost position. The firm retains some of its cost savings and passes the rest on to its customers through everyday low prices, creating a flywheel effect. Intangible asset and scale-based cost advantages support a wide moat.

Lowe's is the second-largest home improvement retailer globally, set to capture around $92 billion in sales in fiscal 2026. With a perpetual focus on retail fundamentals (merchandising, operational efficiency, supply chain improvements, omnichannel shopping experience, and customer engagement), Lowe's has been able to manage costs while maintaining its low-cost position. The firm retains some of its cost savings and passes the rest on to its customers through everyday low prices, creating a flywheel effect. Intangible asset and scale-based cost advantages support our wide moat rating.

Lowe's second-quarter sales grew 8%, to $26 billion, as 0.2% same-store sales growth was bolstered by strength in pro sales stemming from the Artisan Design Group and FBM acquisitions. The adjusted operating margin contracted 62 basis points, to 14%, hurt by higher fuel and transportation costs.

Lowe's is the second-largest home improvement retailer globally, set to capture around $93 billion in sales in fiscal 2026. With a perpetual focus on retail fundamentals (merchandising, operational efficiency, supply chain improvements, omnichannel shopping experience, and customer engagement), Lowe's has been able to manage costs while maintaining its low-cost position. The firm retains some of its cost savings and passes the rest on to its customers through everyday low prices, creating a flywheel effect. Intangible asset and scale-based cost advantages support our wide moat rating.

Lowe's first quarter included sales growth of 10.3%, supported by the inclusion of recent pro acquisitions and same-store sales growth of 0.6%, leading to adjusted earnings per share of $3.03. Comp ticket rose 1.5% on price and pro demand, while transactions fell 0.9% due to do-it-yourself pressure.

Lowe's is the second-largest home improvement retailer globally, set to capture around $92 billion in sales in fiscal 2026. With a perpetual focus on retail fundamentals (merchandising, operational efficiency, supply chain improvements, omnichannel shopping experience, and customer engagement), Lowe's has been able to manage costs while maintaining its low-cost position. The firm retains some of its cost savings and passes the rest on to its customers through everyday low prices, creating a flywheel effect. Intangible asset and scale-based cost advantages support our wide moat rating.

Lowe's fourth-quarter sales growth of 10.9% and adjusted operating margin of 9% were in line with previously implied guidance. For 2026, the company expects same-store sales that are flat to up 2%, supporting total sales of $92 billion-$94 billion, and adjusted operating margin of 11.6%-11.8%.

Lowe's is the second-largest home improvement retailer globally, set to capture around $86 billion in sales in fiscal 2025. With a perpetual focus on retail fundamentals (merchandising, operational efficiency, supply chain improvements, omnichannel shopping experience, and customer engagement), Lowe's has been able to leverage costs while maintaining its low-cost position. The firm retains some of its cost savings and passes the rest on to its customers through everyday low prices, creating a flywheel effect. Intangible asset and scale-based cost advantages support our wide moat rating.

Lowe's third-quarter results included same-store sales growth of 0.4% and adjusted earnings per share of $3.06, up 6%. In the quarter, the firm closed its $8.8 billion acquisition of Foundation Building Materials, bolstering its interior building product offerings for professional customers.

Lowe's is the second-largest home improvement retailer globally, set to capture around $85 billion in sales in fiscal 2025. With a perpetual focus on retail fundamentals (merchandising, operational efficiency, supply chain improvements, omnichannel shopping experience, and customer engagement), Lowe's has been able to leverage costs while maintaining its low-cost position. The firm retains some of its cost savings and passes the rest on to its customers through everyday low prices, creating a flywheel effect. Intangible asset and scale-based cost advantages support our wide moat rating.

Lowe's delivered second-quarter sales of $24 billion on 1.1% same-store sales growth and adjusted earnings per share of $4.33. It also announced the acquisition of Foundation Building Materials for $8.8 billion, gaining exposure to the North American interior building product distribution network.

Lowe's is the second-largest home improvement retailer globally, set to capture $84 billion in sales in fiscal 2025. With a perpetual focus on retail fundamentals (merchandising, operational efficiency, supply chain improvements, omnichannel shopping experience, and customer engagement), Lowe's has been able to leverage costs while maintaining its low-cost position. The firm retains some of its cost savings and passes the rest on to its customers through everyday low prices, creating a flywheel effect. Intangible asset and scale-based cost advantages support our wide moat rating.

Wide-moat Lowe’s fiscal first-quarter results were largely in line with our expectations, with $20.9 billion in revenue matching our estimate and an 11.9% operating margin slightly exceeding our projection by 10 basis points. While industrywide pressures, including sluggish home turnover, cautious consumer spending, and unfavorable weather, helped drag down comparable sales 1.7%, the figure came in a tad better than the 2% drop we had anticipated.

Lowe's is acquiring the provider of design, procurement, and installation services for construction companies and property managers at a $1.325 billion price tag, financing the transaction with cash on hand.

Lowe's is the second-largest home improvement retailer globally, set to capture $84 billion in sales in fiscal 2025. With a perpetual focus on retail fundamentals (merchandising, operational efficiency, supply chain improvements, omnichannel shopping experience, and customer engagement), Lowe's has been able to leverage costs while maintaining its low-cost position. The firm retains some of its cost savings and passes the rest on to its customers through everyday low prices, creating a flywheel effect. Intangible asset and scale-based cost advantages support our wide moat rating.

Wide-moat Lowe’s fourth quarter echoed sentiment of competitor wide-moat Home Depot, conveying concern around higher interest rates and the willingness to spend on DIY projects. That said, the top line print of $18.6 billion was ahead of our $18.2 billion estimate, and comparable sales grew 0.2%, marking the first positive result in eight quarters. Gross margin rose 46 basis points to 32.9% (versus our 32.7% forecast) and the adjusted operating margin lifted 36 basis points to 9.4% (9.3%) thanks to productivity improvements. Notably, while comparable transactions declined 1.3% in the quarter due to fewer DIY projects, the comparable average ticket grew 1.5%, which we see as a positive sign that consumers are trading up in areas like appliances and spending on small pro projects. As such, we plan to maintain our $225 fair value estimate and see shares as modestly overvalued.

Lowe's is the second-largest home improvement retailer globally, set to capture around $83 billion in sales in fiscal 2024. With a perpetual focus on retail fundamentals (merchandising, operational efficiency, supply chain improvements, omnichannel shopping experience, and customer engagement), Lowe's has been able to leverage costs while maintaining its low-cost position. The firm retains some of its cost savings and passes the rest on to its customers through everyday low prices, creating a flywheel effect. Intangible asset and scale-based cost advantages support our wide moat rating.

Lowe’s laid out its updated near- and long-term strategies at its Dec. 11 investor day. We contend that the updated total home strategy, with a continued focus on improvements in pro penetration (now at 30%), loyalty, and productivity will improve the customer experience and ROICs, supporting the firm’s wide-moat rating. However, we don’t think such enhancements in customer experience and operating processes are unique to Lowe’s. Other retailers in the industry continue to pursue similar efforts, which will result in Lowe's perpetually spending to maintain its competitive advantages.

Lowe's is the second-largest home improvement retailer globally, set to capture around $83 billion in sales in fiscal 2024. With a perpetual focus on retail fundamentals (merchandising, operational efficiency, supply chain improvements, omnichannel shopping experience, and customer engagement), Lowe's has been able to leverage costs while maintaining its low-cost position. The firm retains some of its cost savings and passes the rest on to its customers through everyday low prices, creating a flywheel effect. Intangible asset and scale-based cost advantages support our wide moat rating.

Lowe’s echoed the sentiment of competitor wide-moat Home Depot, as its third-quarter results could not escape the negative impact of macroeconomic uncertainty and relatively high interest rates on DIY customer spending. Total sales of $20.2 billion were slightly higher than our $19.8 billion forecast, attributable to hurricane-related activity and pro comps that were better than implied. Though the top line came in ahead, the adjusted operating margin fell to 12.3% (90 basis points), hurt by product mix pressure and storm-related expenses. However, we see this as an isolated event and do not expect to modify our long-term assumption of 13.4% average operating margin over the next decade. As such, we do not plan to materially adjust our $220 fair value estimate and currently see shares as overvalued.