Lowe’s on Wednesday surpassed quarterly earnings expectations and raised its forecast for the year, as Americans buy, fix up and renovate homes in a tight real estate market.
Shares rose more than 2% in premarket trading, as the home improvement retailer said momentum carried into February.
Aging houses, rising real estate values and generational trends are fueling demand for home projects. Americans — including millennials, the country’s largest generation — have been buying homes and upgrading to bigger ones during the pandemic. That has depleted the supply of available homes and inspired some to hire contractors to redo a bathroom, replace a roof or take on other similar projects.
Those dynamics have lifted sales for Lowe’s and competitor, Home Depot.
Here’s what Lowe’s reported for the quarter ended Jan. 28 compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv:
- Earnings per share: $1.78 vs. $1.71 expected
- Revenue:…
