3 Reasons the Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (LOW) Stock Rally Will Continue

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LOW - 3 Reasons the Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (LOW) Stock Rally Will Continue

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On the heels of a standout earnings report last week, Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) shares gained about 7%. It stood in stark contrast to many other retailers — like Macy’s Inc (NYSE:M) and Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) — that have struggled with the impact of e-commerce. Let’s face it, the mighty Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) continues to wreak havoc on brick-and-mortar operators.

3 Reasons the Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (LOW) Stock Rally Will Continue

But so far, Lowe’s has been immune. Then again, when it comes to home improvement, consumers still like to make a visit to a big-box location.

OK then, so what about Lowe’s stock now? Is there still room on the upside? Well, I think so. For the most part, the momentum looks sustainable for LOW stock. And here are three reasons to keep in mind:

Reason No. 1 for Lowe’s Stock: Positive Macro Environment

Again, the latest quarterly report shows that the company is on a nice growth path. Note that revenues jumped 19% to $15.78 billion and comparable sales rose by 5.1%. By comparison, the Street consensus was looking for revenues of $15.39 billion and comparable store sales of only 2.4%

A key to the strength is the positive fundamentals for the home improvement industry. After all, there has been a steady increase in real estate prices, which has encouraged more spending.

According to Lowe’s CEO Robert Niblock: “Expected growth in the home improvement market is further support of the results of our fourth quarter consumer sentiment survey, which revealed that post election, homeowners have an increasingly favorable view of the national economy and their personal financial situations and we believe this trend will continue, as almost half of the homeowners we surveyed indicate that they are very likely to begin a home improvement project in the next six months, and more than half of homeowners believe that home values are rising and will continue to increase.”

Reason No. 2 for LOW Stock: Omnichannel Success

In the retail world, the concept of “omnichannel” is a common buzzword. It’s essentially about providing customers with consistent experiences across in-store and digital platforms.

Of course, LOW stock has been pursuing this strategy for some time, such as with a revamped website and improved mobile apps. Oh, and there have even been cutting-edge innovations with VR (Virtual Reality) and robots, which help answer questions in Lowe’s locations.

And the investments are really starting to pay off. During the latest quarter, the comp growth for Lowes.com jumped by 25%. Interestingly enough, digital traffic is growing at 15 times the store traffic since 2010 and mobile accounts for a quarter of overall traffic.

LOW stock has also been skillful with leveraging online channels for marketing and branding campaigns. For example, the company’s Pinterest page has over 3.4 million users. What’s more, Lowe’s has been active in creating engaging videos for platforms like Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) TV, Alphabet Inc’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL, NASDAQ:GOOG) YouTube, Amazon.com, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) FireTV and Roku.

Yet the omnichannel strategy has not just been about technology. Just look at the rollout of the interior project specialist program.

This involves highly trained employees who help customers to plan, design and complete home improvement projects.

Reason No. 3 for Lowe’s Stock: Shareholder Value

During the fiscal year, the company repurchased $3.5 billion of Lowe’s stock. And yes, the board recently authorized a new program for up to $5 billion in buybacks.

As for the valuation on Lowe’s stock, it is fairly reasonable. Keep in mind that the forward price-to-earnings ratio is 15X. By comparison, Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) trades at a multiple of 18X.

Tom Taulli runs the InvestorPlace blog IPO Playbook and is the author of various books, including Taxes 2017: Saving A BundleFollow him on Twitter at @ttaulli. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books. They include Artificial Intelligence Basics and the Robotic Process Automation Handbook. His upcoming book is called Generative AI: How ChatGPT and other AI Tools Will Revolutionize Business.


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