Home Depot's (HD) third-quarter earnings came in 21% higher than the same period last year, beating analysts' estimates. For the quarter ended Oct. 31, the company reported a profit of $834 million or 61 cents a share, up from $689 million or 44 cents a share last year. Revenue rose 1.4% to $16.6 billion. Same-store sales increased 1.4% These results mark the fourth straight gain after three years of decline.

Chairman and Chief Executive Frank Blake said: "As the business stabilizes, we continue to improve our operational performance ... We are exercising good control over our expenses."

Continue reading Home Depot's Profit Rises 21%, Beating Estimates

Home Depot's Profit Rises 21%, Beating Estimates originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Lowe's Issues Q1 Results, Market Sells Stock

Lowe's Issues Q1 Results, Market Sells Stock originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 17 May 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

You've got to take notice of The Home Depot Inc.'s (HD) fourth quarter. Check out Trey Thoelcke's article devoted to retail earnings published this afternoon. It provides a snapshot of data for the chain. It's impressive.

Besides beating earnings expectations, what most observers should focus on is the fact that this is the first quarter in a very, very long time that has seen appreciation in the same-store sales metric. Not a bad change of pace, huh? Those negative comps were becoming a little boring, quite frankly. Furthermore, the chain actually increased its quarterly dividend payout. This isn't insignificant; it clearly signals, in theory at least, a fundamental shift.

Continue reading Should Home Depot Be Considered After Q4?

Should Home Depot Be Considered After Q4? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Lowe's Companies, Inc. (LOW) is much higher today than it was a year ago. In fact, it's near a 52-week high; at roughly $23 per share, the stock could eventually double the 52-week low of $13. With that in mind, how does the company look after the fourth-quarter report?

Lowe's, which competes with Home Depot, Inc. (HD), made 14 cents per share, three pennies higher than what was booked in the comparable period. Yeah, doesn't sound like much, but on a percentage basis, that translates to 27% growth. And it stacks up nicely against the fiscal-year performance, as Lowe's saw a decrease in earnings per share.

Continue reading Lowe's Looks Okay After Q4

Lowe's Looks Okay After Q4 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Also reporting earnings Tuesday morning was home-improvement retailer Home Depot (HD). The company announced that third-quarter earnings dropped 8.9% to 41 cents per share thanks to weak housing and home renovation markets. That was a nickel better than analysts' expectations.

Revenue dropped from a year ago as well, but the $16.36 billion in revenue was better than the expected $16.27 billion. The company also expects full-year earnings of $1.55 per share, which is better than the forecast $1.52 per share.

Continue reading Home Depot tops Q3 estimates, but bad news drags the stock lower

Home Depot tops Q3 estimates, but bad news drags the stock lower originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Lowe's (LOW) kicked off the week's earnings reports by posting third-quarter earnings of 24 cents per share, matching the consensus estimate. Revenue checked in at $11.4 billion, which -- while 3% lower than a year ago -- was better than the expected revenue of $11.28 billion. LOW's same-store sales dropped 7.5%.

Looking ahead, Lowe's forecast fourth-quarter earnings between nine and 13 cents per share and full-year earnings between $1.16 and $1.20 per share. Both of those forecast ranges surround the expected 10 cents per share and $1.20 per share, respectively. Lowe's also noted that it seems that some of the home markets feeling the biggest crunch in the economic crisis are stabilizing. Nevertheless, the home-improvement firm was negatively hit as customers were putting off larger purchases thanks to the economic situation.

Continue reading Lowe's third-quarter profit falls

Lowe's third-quarter profit falls originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: Sudden euphoria, take 18 (C, DNDN, LOW, ORCL, SII)

Closing Bell: Sudden euphoria, take 18 (C, DNDN, LOW, ORCL, SII) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Lowe's issues a cautious earnings outlook

Lowe's issues a cautious earnings outlook originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Lowe's Q2 earnings preview

Lowe's Q2 earnings preview originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 14 Aug 2009 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"I have four Hurricane Season stock picks -- two bullish, two bearish -- to play this summer's potentially wild weather," says Sean Broderick in his Uncommon Wisdom advisory.

"Last year's stormy weather spawned 16 named storms, which was higher than the long-term average of about 10 tropical storms and six hurricanes per year in a typical Atlantic hurricane season.

"The major hurricane forecasters have now made their predictions, and it's for a 'moderate' hurricane season. That's good news for America's oil and gas industry.

Continue reading Hurricane plays: Winners and losers

Hurricane plays: Winners and losers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Time to scoop up some shares of The Home Depot

Time to scoop up some shares of The Home Depot originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 20 May 2009 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Then you look at the stock. And you say to yourself, "what's going on?" As I write this, with less than three hours to go in the trading day, shares of Lowe's are trading almost 10% higher! On excellent volume, too. As you might have thought, an earnings beat was lurking somewhere in the plot of this particular tale. Lowe's earned $0.32 per share in Q1. According to Trey Thoelcke's earnings preview, the market thought that only $0.25 could be achieved. This differential is helping to fuel the buying.

Continue reading Lowe's rises after Q1 beat, but don't buy high

Lowe's rises after Q1 beat, but don't buy high originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 18 May 2009 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Home-products retailer Williams-Sonoma (NYSE: WSM), which runs such retail brands as Pottery Barn and West Elm in addition to its namesake chain, issued Q4 numbers on Tuesday. Well, they weren't spectacular. Surprised? No, I'm sure you weren't. I mean, when you sell stuff for homes, you've got to expect that you're going to see some weakness. And there's plenty of it here.

Revenues decreased almost 27% during the quarter, and earnings per share on an adjusted basis dropped over 70% to 31 cents. That beat estimates of 16 cents per share, according to Reuters' analysts, but forgive me if I don't jump up and down over that performance. And what about same-store sales? They were mighty bad. On an overall basis, they went down by over 22%.

Continue reading Williams-Sonoma beats expectations; its stock is strong but expensive

Williams-Sonoma beats expectations; its stock is strong but expensive originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 25 Mar 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Home improvement retailer Lowe's (NYSE: LOW) said Friday its fourth-quarter profit fell 60% from a year ago, as consumers continued to shy away from big-ticket items, such as appliances and cabinetry.

Lowe's said it earned $162 million, or 11 cents per share, in the quarter ended Jan. 30 -- down from earnings of $408 million, or 28 cents per share, last year. Revenue fell 4% to $9.98 billion as same-store sales, a key measure of performance since it tracks growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones, dropped 9.9%.

Continue reading The Lowe down

The Lowe down originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 23 Feb 2009 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Masco (MAS) misses estimates and announces dividend cut

Masco (MAS) misses estimates and announces dividend cut originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 12 Feb 2009 08:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Obama Stock Picks: Lowe's (LOW) and The Home Depot (HD)

Obama Stock Picks: Lowe's (LOW) and The Home Depot (HD) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 20 Jan 2009 15:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Well, seems like Lowe's Companies, Ic. (NYSE: LOW) did much better than expected during the third quarter. And I was apparently too pessimistic in my earnings preview. The call was for $0.28 per share. The home-improvement retailer beat expectations by $0.05 per share, according to Thomson Reuters estimates. Hey, I tip my hat to management.

But I wouldn't buy the stock just now (unless, of course, you have a very long-term horizon, are willing to ride out the bear market, and intend on improving your cost basis through dollar-cost-averaging). My reasoning is simple: total sales increased only 1.4%, and same-store sales decreased nearly 6%. It's that bad drop in the comps that really has me worried. All retailers are suffering through lousy comps right now, and I think sales are destined to remain weak.

Yet, the market seems to be saying something else to me. Lowe's saw its shares rise over 4% on Monday, on good volume, and on a bad day for the major indexes, too. Is the market saying that all the bad news is priced in? You know, I understand the earnings game and how the market loves it when a business beats estimates, and certainly a $0.05 beat is cool, but I'm not sure that better prices are ahead for those who follow Lowe's and its stock. Consumers just won't be spending enough to justify the buying seen in Lowe's equity yesterday.

Continue reading Lowe's beats earnings in Q3, but I'm not buying

Lowe's beats earnings in Q3, but I'm not buying originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Lowe's (NYSE: LOW), a chain that sells products related to home improvement for do-it-yourselfers and competes with Home Depot (NYSE: HD), is set to report earnings for the third quarter on Monday, November 17. The expectation is for $0.28 per share. If management hits that number, which its shareholders are praying it does at the very least, then that would represent a 35% drop in per-share income. At this point, investors are becoming numb to things like 35% drops in per-share income, aren't they? Ah, the wonders of a bear market.

Lowe's beat in the previous two quarters according to AOL Finance, but all bets are currently off as far as I'm concerned. Retail is awful, consumer confidence just felt the poke of the Grim Reaper's index finger and is dying a slow death, and I'd have to assume that people haven't done much to improve their homes during the past quarter. With all the headlines talking about job losses and the like, putting up new cabinets in the kitchen is probably far down on the consumer's list of priorities. The actual numbers for the quarter won't matter so much. Even if Lowe's beats by a penny, it's the outlook Wall Street will be dissecting. And that won't be good, will it? Everyone's outlook is cautious at the very best. At the very least, management will be doing what it can in terms of preserving the margins. I'm sure there will be talk about cost-cutting and efficiencies during the conference call. Let me tell you, management is going to need a lot of efficiency initiatives going forward in this cataclysmic climate. And I hope they have their cash-flow statement working at an optimum level.

Continue reading Earnings preview: Will Lowe's go lower after it reports?

Earnings preview: Will Lowe's go lower after it reports? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 15 Nov 2008 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Earlier this week, Jim Cramer pondered whether the U.S. economy had reached bottom, given such recent signs as stronger-than-expected retail sales and investor interest in homebuilders. In particular, he said he's looking at next week's quarterly results from Lowe's (NYSE: LOW) and Home Depot (NYSE: HD) as a sign for the housing sector and for the potential market rally.

Lowe's is expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial to report second-quarter earnings of 39 cents per share, down 18.8% from 48 cents per share in the same period in 2007, but up 28.2% from 28 cents per share in the previous quarter. The company has provided positive surprises in four of the past five quarters.

North Carolina-based Lowe's is the second-largest U.S. home improvement chain, behind rival Home Depot, and the second-largest appliance retailer after Sears (NYSE: SHLD). In the past year, the company's revenues were $48.2 billion and its net income totaled $2.8 billion. Its long-term EPS growth forecast is 12.7%, which is better than its industry average. The consensus recommendation of analysts remains to buy Lowe's.

The stock is up 9.9% since the beginning of the year, but has fallen 20.5% from a year ago. It trades at a P/E ratio of 13.38. Shares closed Friday at $24.89.

Continue reading Lowe's, Home Depot expected to post Q2 profit declines

Lowe's, Home Depot expected to post Q2 profit declines originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 18 May 2008 10:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Black & Decker knows that housing won't be in a slump forever

Black & Decker knows that housing won't be in a slump forever originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 02 May 2008 17:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.