Home improvement retailer Lowe's Cos., Inc. (LOW) reported Wednesday a profit for the fourth quarter that surged 47 percent from last year, reflecting lower expenses and sales growth. Comparable store sales grew 7.3 percent.
Earnings per share and quarterly sales topped analysts' expectations. The company also provided earnings and sales growth guidance for the full-year 2015, just above Street view.
"I would like to thank our employees for their hard work and dedication. Their steadfast commitment to serving customers is critical to our success, and an important driver of this quarter's strong results," Chairman, President and CEO Robert Niblock said.
The Mooresville, North California-based nation's No. 2 home improvement chain reported net earnings of $450 million or $0.46 per share for the fourth quarter, higher than $306 million or $0.29 per share in the year-ago quarter.
On average, 27 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to post earnings of $0.44 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Sales for the quarter grew 7.6 percent to $12.54 billion from $11.66 billion in the same quarter last year, and topped twenty-three Wall Street analysts' consensus estimate of $12.31 billion by a whisker.
Comparable store sales for the quarter increased 7.3 percent, with comparable sales for the U.S. business increasing 7.4 percent.
Gross margin for the quarter contracted to 34.66 percent from last year's 34.67 percent, while total expenses decreased to 29.18 percent from 30.39 percent a year ago.
The company also noted that it repurchased $1.0 billion of stock under its share repurchase program and paid $225 million in dividends in the fourth quarter.
As at the end of the fourth quarter, Lowe's operated 1,840 home improvement and hardware stores in the U.S., Canada and Mexico representing 200.9 million square feet of retail selling space.
Looking ahead to fiscal 2015, Lowe's expects earnings of about $3.29 per share on projected total sales growth of 4.5 to 5 percent and comparable store sales growth of 4 to 4.5 percent. Street is currently looking for full-year 2015 earnings of $3.28 per share on annual sales growth of 4.5 percent to $58.52 billion.
"We remain focused on improving our profitability even while investing in key capabilities to drive sales growth. Our transformation is gaining momentum, and macroeconomic fundamentals are aligned for modestly stronger home improvement industry growth in 2015," Niblock added.
LOW closed Tuesday's regular trading session at $74.65, down $0.96 on a volume of 9.72 million shares. In the past 52-week period, the stock has been trading in a range of $44.13 to $75.82.
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