Lowe’s Companies had a good second quarter despite a comparable store sales decline attributable to a comparison with an extra robust period in the 2020 period bolstered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The company posted net earnings of $3.02 billion and diluted earnings per share of $4.25 versus $2.83 billion and $3.74 in the 2020 quarter.
Adjusted for one-time charges, second-quarter diluted earnings per share were $4.25 versus $3.75 in the year-before period.
On average, analysts polled by Yahoo Finance estimated Lowe’s second-quarter diluted earnings per share to come in at $4.
Total sales were $27.57 billion versus $27.3 billion in the year-prior quarter, and comparable sales decreased 1.6% as comps decreased 2.2% in the United States versus the year-earlier period. The comps come on top of a 34.2% company and 35.1% U.S. year over year gain in the 2020 second quarter. Operating income advanced to $4.21 billion versus $3.96 billion in the period a year previous, the company noted.
“Our strong results this quarter demonstrate that our Total Home strategy is working, with U.S. sales comps up 32% on a two-year basis. In the quarter, we drove 21% growth in pro, 10% growth in installation services and strong comps across décor product categories. On Lowes.com, sales grew 7% on top of 135% growth last year. We also delivered significant operating margin expansion through our disciplined focus on driving productivity across the company,” said Marvin Ellison, Lowe’s chairman, president and CEO, in announcing the financial results.
