MOORESVILLE — Lowe’s (LOW) beat Wall Street expectations on earnings and revenue on Tuesday, reporting fiscal first-quarter profit of $2.26 billion. And its CEO touted the performance – with a note of caution.
“We are pleased with the performance of our business despite record lumber deflation and unfavorable spring weather,” said Marvin Ellison, the company’s chair and CEO.
But he also expressed concerns about future prospects.
“Although we delivered positive comparable sales in Pro and online for the first quarter, we are updating our full-year outlook to reflect softer-than-expected consumer demand for discretionary purchases,” he said in a statement. “We remain optimistic about the medium-to-long term outlook for home improvement and our ability to continue to grow market share through our Total Home strategy.”
CNBC reported that Lowe’s cut projected earnings to between $13.20 and $13.60 per share, down from a previous range of $13.60 to $14.00.
On a per-share basis, the Mooresville, North Carolina-based company said it had net income of $3.77. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring gains, came to $3.67 per share.
The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 15 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $3.48 per share.
The home improvement retailer posted revenue of $22.35 billion in the period, also beating Street forecasts. Twelve analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $21.56 billion.
Lowe’s expects full-year earnings in the range of $13.20 to $13.60 per share, with revenue in the range of $87 billion to $89 billion.
