Lowe's (NYSE: LOW) on Wednesday delivered a mixed earnings report for the fourth quarter, but soothed investors' concerns by hinting at early signs of strength in its spring business and continued strength in the U.S. in 2019.
Lowe's said a weak housing market in Canada hurt its latest quarterly results. CEO Marvin Ellison noted, however, that "U.S. macroeconomic fundamentals remain sound for 2019."
For the quarter ended Feb. 1, Lowe's reported a net loss of $824 million, or $1.03 per share, compared with net income of $554 million, or 67 cents a share, a year ago. Excluding one-time items, Lowe's earned 80 cents per share, a penny a share ahead of analysts' forecast data.
Lowe's said the latest results included $1.6 billion in pretax charges: $952 million was tied to a goodwill impairment charge Lowe's took for its business in Canada.
Revenue during the fourth quarter rose to $15.65 billion from $15.49 billion a year ago, short of analysts' expectations for $15.74 billion.
Lowe's said sales at its stores open for at least 12 months climbed 1.7% during the quarter, missing expectations for growth of 2.1%. Same-store sales for its U.S. home improvement business were up 2.4%.
Said CEO Marvin Ellison, "Although we have remaining work to do, we are pleased with the results we are seeing in early spring categories, which is evidence that we are focused on the right actions at this stage of our transformation.”
Shares in LOW spiked $2.68, or 2.6%, Wednesday, to $107.71
Related Stories
