Lowe’s Sees Earnings Rise But Outlook is Lowered

Lowe’s has reported an increase in revenue and profit for its second quarter on Wednesday, but the retailer that specializes in home improvement lowered its guidance for earnings for 2014.

The retailer said it had earned $1.03 billion during its second quarter which was equal to a per share price of $1.04. That was in comparison to earnings of $941 million equal to 88 cents per share for the same quarter during 2013.

Analysts on Wall Street had been expecting that earnings would reach $1.03 per share on $16.6 billion in revenue, according to a report online.

Sales in stores that have been open at least 13 months, which is a key metric for retail, were up by 4.4% for the quarter.

Robert Niblock the CEO at Lowe’s said that the company believes that spending on home improvement will continue to increase in tandem with the job growth and income increases.

The company’s sale performance year to date as well as the previous estimates for the second six months of 2014, resulted in a slight reduction in sales for the complete year.

Lowe’s announced that it expects that growth in revenue will be 4.5% for the complete fiscal year, which is down from its forecast earlier of 5% growth.

Lowe’s shares dropped by 4% during trading prior to the opening bell on Wednesday and were at $49.34.

On Tuesday, Home Deport posted sales and profit that was up for their second quarter, which beat estimates on Wall Street. However, the Lowe’s rival raised its guidance for earnings for the full year.

Home Depot’s net income for their second quarter was $2.1 billion equal to a per share rate of $1.52. Its revenue was up by more than 5.7% to over $23.8 billion, which was higher than the same period one year ago when revenue was $22.51.