Who: Lowe’s Companies Inc.
What: Reported fiscal third-quarter results that topped Wall Street expectations while cutting its full-year earnings forecast and modestly raising its sales target.
When: Results released Wednesday, covering the three months ended Oct. 31, 2025.
Where: The retailer operates about 1,700 stores across the United States; results were discussed on a conference call with analysts.
How and Why: Management cited persistent economic uncertainty, elevated interest rates and cautious consumer behavior on discretionary home projects as reasons for the revised outlook. A recently completed acquisition expanded projected revenue.
Lowe’s posted net income of $1.62 billion, or $2.88 per share, down from $1.70 billion, or $2.99 per share, in the comparable period a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, primarily acquisition-related costs, adjusted earnings reached $3.06 per share. Analysts surveyed by LSEG had anticipated $2.97.
Revenue grew 3% year over year to $20.81 billion, essentially in line with the $20.82 billion consensus estimate. Comparable sales, which strip out the effects of new locations and currency fluctuations, inched up 0.4%.
Chief Executive Officer Marvin Ellison told investors that the company also began the current fiscal fourth quarter with positive comparable sales despite a decline in hurricane-related demand compared with last year. Ten of the retailer’s 14 merchandise divisions, including appliances, flooring, and kitchen and bath, generated year-over-year growth during the third quarter, according to Executive Vice President of Merchandising Bill Boltz.
The Mooresville, North Carolina-based chain now projects fiscal-year revenue of about $86 billion, up from a prior outlook of $84.5 billion to $85.5 billion. The higher target reflects the closing of the $8.8 billion purchase of Foundation Building Materials, a distributor that serves large residential and commercial contractors.
Despite the improved revenue view, management trimmed its earnings expectations. Adjusted earnings per share are now forecast at roughly $12.25, the lower end of the previous $12.20 to $12.45 range. Comparable sales for the full year are expected to be flat, versus the earlier projection of flat to a 1% increase.
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Ellison said the typical U.S. homeowner “remains healthy,” but he acknowledged that affordability challenges and ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty are dampening confidence in larger, discretionary projects. Interest rates remain near the highest levels in two decades, increasing financing costs for renovations. The Federal Reserve has signaled it intends to keep rates elevated until inflation slows sustainably toward its 2% goal.
Like rival Home Depot, Lowe’s is bolstering its offerings for contractors and property managers to compensate for softer do-it-yourself demand. Beyond the Foundation Building Materials acquisition, the company in April agreed to buy Artisan Design Group for nearly $1.33 billion. Artisan provides design services and installation of flooring, cabinets and countertops for homebuilders and multifamily property owners.
Chief Financial Officer Brandon Sink said professional-grade product categories and appliances led third-quarter growth. He added that early momentum in the company’s home services segment provides “cautious optimism” for 2026, even though management still expects the broader home-improvement market to remain roughly flat this year.
Higher mortgage rates and a sluggish housing market have weighed on renovation spending for more than two years. On Tuesday, Home Depot lowered its own full-year profit forecast after missing quarterly earnings estimates for the third consecutive period. Home Depot’s Chief Financial Officer Richard McPhail cited tempered storm activity, a difficult housing environment and heightened consumer uncertainty as primary pressures.
Lowe’s leadership echoed those conditions. Elevated borrowing costs, which have persisted longer than many forecasters anticipated, are discouraging homeowners from undertaking large projects that typically require financing. Smaller maintenance and repair work, however, continues to generate steady traffic.
Lowe’s shares rose more than 3% in early Wednesday trading after management highlighted a solid start to the fourth quarter. Over the longer term, the retailer expects acquisitions, enhanced professional-customer services and category expansions to offset macroeconomic headwinds.
Lowe’s operates in a roughly $900 billion U.S. home-improvement market. Executives believe that the integration of newly acquired distribution and design capabilities positions the company to gain share when housing turnover and discretionary spending eventually recover.
Crédito da imagem: Justin Sullivan
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