Lowe's shares rally after sales, earnings rise, company plans to add stores
Shares of Lowe's Cos. jumped nealry 7% in premarket trading Wednesday after the home-improvement retailer posted higher earnings and said it would expand. Lowe's reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of 86 cents, versus 59 cents in the year-ago quarter. Analysts polled by FactSet Research were forecasting earnings of 86 cents. Revenue rose to $15.78 billion from $13.23 billion in the year-ago period. Comparable sales rose 4.2%, and rose 5.1% for its U.S. businesses. The company said it repurchased $551 million of stock under its share repurchase program in the quarter. Looking ahead, Lowe's said it expects total sales to rise around 5% and comparable sales to gain 3.5% for 2017. It expects diluted earnings per share of $4.64 for the fiscal year ending Feb. 2, 2018. The company also said it plans to add 35 home-improvement and hardware stores for 2017.
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