Lowe’s (LOW) is set to announce third quarter earnings on Wednesday and investors will focus on its comparable sales guidance amid a sluggish housing market.
Wall Street expects the North Carolina-based company to post EPS of $2.95, implying an increase of 2.1%, while revenue is expected to rise 3.3% to $20.84 billion for the quarter.
With the home improvement sector entering a seasonal slowdown, some analysts have become cautious. Piper Sandler expected Q3 comp to come in slightly lower than guidance for +1.25% y/y as there has been no positive inflection within the home improvement space during the quarter.
However, Piper Sandler analyst Peter J. Keith expects a rebound in large project demand to begin in Q1, 2026 once roughly three years of Y/Y declines for big ticket comps have been fully lapped.
“Also, LOW’s acquisitions of FBM and ADG earlier this year should help position the retailer better to capture sales with larger Pro customers and home builders,” added Keith, who rates the stock as Overweight with a price target of $294, implying an upside of ~30%.
Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating and Seeking Alpha analysts are cautious and rated the company as a Hold. Wall Street analysts are still bullish and rated the stock a Buy.
“Lowe’s Companies remains resilient with strong fundamentals and growing Pro segment exposure but faces inflationary headwinds and limited upside,” highlighted Seeking Alpha analyst Daniel Javier, rating the stock as Hold.
Javier added that robust liquidity, prudent debt management, and strategic geographic presence help LOW weather market challenges, but noted that Home Depot offers better fundamentals and upside.
Over the last two years, LOW has beaten EPS estimates 100% of the time and has beaten revenue estimates 63% of the time.
Over the last three months, EPS estimates have seen three upward revisions against 12 downward moves, while revenue estimates have seen 11 upward revisions versus three downward revisions.
Lowe’s stock has lost over 10% so far this year, compared to the 13.5% rise in the broader S&P500 Index.