Shares of Lowe’s Companies Inc (NYSE:LOW) rallied in early trading on Wednesday, after the company reported its second-quarter results.
While the company reported comps in line with expectations, it reduced guidance to the low end of the prior range, according to JPMorgan analyst Christopher Horvers.
The Lowe’s Companies Analyst: Horvers reiterated an Overweight rating on the stock.
Although the stock jumped on same-store sales hitting the higher end of expectations, “the absolute performance and lowered guidance should weigh,” Horvers said in the note.
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He highlighted the following from Lowe’s second-quarter print:
- Earnings came in at $4.40 per share, 4.0% above consensus of $4.23 per share.
- Earnings grew 1.5% year-on-year and included a tariff benefit of 11 cents per share.
- Comp of 0.2% was below consensus of 0.4%, but above JPMorgan’s lowered estimate of a 1.4% decline.
- Gross margin contracted by 80 basis points (bps) year-on-year to 33.0% but exceeded Street expectations of 32.6%.
- Tariff refunds drove around 30 bps of gross margin expansion.
Management called out 15.7% online sales growth and “continued strength in Pro,” partially offset by macro-related DIY pressures, the analyst wrote.
He added that management guided to:
- Flat comps
- Net sales of $92 billion
- Adjusted operating margin of 11.6%
- Earnings of $12.25 per share
Lowe’s guidance now includes the second-quarter tariff refunds but excludes potential tariff refunds in the back half of the year, Horvers noted. The guidance implies roughly flat comps in the back half of the year, lower than Street expectations of 1.5%, and earnings around 40 cents per share below, the analyst further stated.
LOW Price Action: Shares of Lowe’s Companies had risen by 3.88% to $224.12 at the time of publication on Wednesday.
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