Lowe's Cuts FY23 Outlook Below Market On Lower-than-expected DIY Sales; Stock Down In Premarket

(RTTNews) - Home improvement retailer Lowe's Companies, Inc. (LOW), while reporting significantly higher profit and weak revenues in its third quarter, on Tuesday lowered fiscal 2023 earnings and revenue forecast below market estimates citing lower-than-expected DIY sales.

In pre-market activity on the NYSE, Lowe's shares were losing around 6 percent to trade at $192.31.

For fiscal 2023, the company now expects adjusted earnings per share of around $13.00, compared to previously expected earnings of $13.20 to $13.60 per share.

Total sales are now projected to be approximately $86 billion, lower than earlier estimate of $87 billion to $89 billion.

Analysts on average expect the company to earn $13.32 per share on sales of $87.55 billion, according to figures compiled by Thomson Reuters. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

For the year, comparable sales are expected to be down approximately 5 percent, compared to previously estimated decline of 2 percent to 4 percent. Adjusted operating margin would be around 13.3 percent, while the previous view was 13.4 percent to 13.6 percent.

In its third quarter, Lowe's reported that bottom line totaled $1.77 billion or $3.06 per share, compared to $154 million or $0.25 per share last year. Excluding the impairment charge in the prior year, third quarter 2022 adjusted earnings per share was $3.27.

The Street was looking for earnings of $3.03 per share for the quarter.

The company's revenue for the quarter fell 12.8 percent to $20.47 billion from $23.48 billion last year. Analysts expected revenues of $20.88 billion for the quarter.

Comparable sales decreased 7.4 percent due to a decline in DIY discretionary spending, partially offset by positive Pro customer comp sales.

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