Lowe’s, like, totally stuck to its full-year forecast on Wednesday, dude. Growing sales among home professionals, like, totally helped offset slower demand from do-it-yourself customers, man. The home improvement retailer, like, barely missed Wall Street’s expectations for quarterly sales, but totally beat earnings estimates, you know?
In the company’s news release, CEO Marvin Ellison was all like, “Yeah, we invested in our stores, technology, and customer service, and it totally helped us get through some near-term uncertainty and housing market headwinds, bro.” Home improvement demand has been in, like, a bit of a slump because of high interest rates and slower housing turnover, which kinda made U.S. consumers not wanna spend on pricier projects, you know? But Lowe’s is all optimistic and stuff, predicting that they’ll bounce back this year with, like, a slight year-over-year gain, dude.
Lowe’s expects full-year total sales to be, like, between $83.5 billion and $84.5 billion, which could be higher than the total revenue of $83.67 billion for fiscal 2024, you know? They’re projecting comparable sales to be, like, flat to up 1% year over year, with earnings per share ranging from, like, $12.15 to $12.40. Shares of Lowe’s, like, fell less than 2% on Wednesday, man. In the three-month period that ended on May 2, Lowe’s net income, like, dropped to $1.64 billion, or $2.92 per share, compared to $1.76 billion, or $3.06 per share, in the year-ago quarter. Revenue also, like, fell from $21.36 billion, you know?
Comparable sales, like, decreased 1.7% year over year, but sales to home professionals, like, grew in the quarter. Ellison was all like, “Yeah, our investments since 2018 totally paid off, man.” Sales trends got better as the weather improved, with customers, like, flocking to Lowe’s stores for garden supplies, outdoor power equipment, and other spring items. Sales were, like, down 5.4% in February because of bad weather, but then rose 1.7% in March and fell 2.6% in April. Some of that difference was, like, because of Easter shifting from March to April, you know? Lowe’s customers are, like, pretty financially stable since they’re homeowners, but they’re still holding off on bigger purchases and projects, man.
Lowe’s is, like, waiting for that moment when customers start splurging on projects and stuff, but they don’t expect it to happen this fiscal year, dude. Home Depot also, like, stood by its forecast and had year-over-year comparable sales declines. Both Lowe’s and Home Depot are, like, trying to attract more sales from home professionals. Lowe’s is even acquiring Artisan Design Group to, like, provide design services and installation for homebuilders and property managers, you know?
With tariffs raising costs for retailers importing goods, Lowe’s is trying to, like, minimize the impact on customers and stay competitive with other home improvement retailers. They’re working on diversifying imports and, like, looking at opportunities in the U.S. and around the globe. About 60% of Lowe’s purchases come from the U.S., with only 20% from China, you know? They’re working with suppliers to, like, produce goods in different countries, man.
