How Do Lowe’s Earnings Compare to Home Depot?

The financial results for the 2015 fiscal year were $2.71 in EPS and $56.22 billion in revenue, compared to consensus estimates of $2.67 per share and $55.98 billion.

The company only gave guidance for the 2015 fiscal year. Total sales are expected to increase 4.5% to 5.0% and comparable sales are expected to increase 4.0% to 4.5%. Lowe’s expects to open 15 to 20 home improvement and hardware stores in the coming year. Diluted EPS for the 2015 fiscal year is expected to be $3.29. The consensus estimates are $3.28 in EPS and $58.52 billion in revenue.

Lowe’s repurchased $1 billion of stock under its share repurchase program and paid $225 million in dividends in the fourth quarter.

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At the end of January 2015, Lowe’s operated 1,840 home improvement and hardware stores in the United States, Canada and Mexico, representing 200.9 million square feet of retail selling space.

Robert A. Niblock, chairman, president and chief executive of Lowe’s, said:

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.

Shares of Lowe’s were down fractionally at $74.33 Wednesday morning. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $71.87 and a 52-week trading range of $44.13 to $75.82.

Rival Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) reported fourth-quarter and full-year 2014 results Tuesday morning. The home improvement retailer posted diluted EPS of $1.05 and $19.16 billion in revenues. In the same period a year ago, the home improvement store reported EPS of $0.73 on revenue of $17.7 billion. Fourth-quarter results also compare to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimates for EPS of $0.89 and $18.7 billion in revenue.

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The company guided 2015 sales growth of approximately 3.5% to 4.7% and same-store sales growth in the range of 3.3% to 4.5%. Diluted EPS is forecast to grow by 8.5% to 10.5% (to a range of $5.11 to $5.17), including the effect of a $4.5 billion stock buyback. Consensus estimates call for 2015 EPS of $5.23 on revenues of $86.46 billion.

Shares of Home Depot also were down fractionally, at $116.68. It is worth noting that the stock hit a 52-week high of $117.92 on Tuesday. The 52-week low is $74.61, and the consensus price target is $115.46.