Sales fell year over year, and the home improvement retailer said do-it-yourself customers bought fewer pricey items.missed revenue expectations
Lowe's stuck by its full-year forecast. It said it expects total sales of between $84 billion and $85 billion, which would be a drop from $86.38 billion in fiscal 2023. It anticipates comparable sales will decline between 2% and 3% compared with the prior year, and expects earnings per share of approximately $12 to $12.30.
Here's what the company reported for the fiscal first quarter compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:In the three-month period that ended May 3, Lowe's net income fell to $1.76 billion, or $3.06 per share, compared with $2.26 billion, or $3.77 per share,Sales dropped from $22.35 billion in the year-ago period. It marked the fifth quarter in a row that Lowe's posted a year-over-year sales decline.
Compared to Home Depot, Lowe's draws less of its business from painters, contractors and other home professionals that tend to provide steadier business even when do-it-yourself customers pull back. Roughly half of Home Depot's sales come from pros compared to about 20% to 25% at Lowe's. Yet Lowe's has been trying to win business from more of those pros. In the company's news release, CEO Marvin Ellison said gains with pros and online sales growth helped to partially offset a decline in do-it-yourself spending.and posted a year-over-year sales decline. At the time, Ellison warned investors that the retailer expected "a pullback in discretionary consumer spending over the near term."Shares of Lowe's closed Monday at $229.