Lowe’s (NYSE:LOW) said Wednesday that its fourth-quarter same-store sales climbed 28.1%, as consumers continued to spend money on home projects during the pandemic.
That’s higher than the 22% growth that analysts expected. Even with the strong results, Lowe’s continues to expect that sales could moderate as the pandemic eases.
Lowe’s shares dipped $2.75, or 1.6% in early Wednesday trading on the news, to $165.84
Lowe’s reported fourth-quarter net income of $978 million, or $1.32 per share, up from $509 million, or 66 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding items, it earned $1.33 per share, exceeding the $1.21 per share expected by analysts.
Net sales rose to $20.31 billion, outpacing analysts’ expectations of $19.48 billion.
Sales at its U.S. stores open at least a year and online grew by 28.6% in the quarter.
Lowe’s CEO Marvin Ellison said in a press release that the company saw high demand across the board. It had sales growth of 16% in all merchandising departments and of more than 19% in all regions of the country. Online sales grew by 121% in the quarter, he said.
Lowe’s reiterated the forecast it gave at an investor day in December. Chief Financial Officer David Denton had said home improvement sales will likely decline in 2021 as more people get COVID-19 vaccines and spend more time outside of their homes.
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