Lowe's 4q09 results

Bilibala: Better than expected earning suggest that recession / the bottom of USA economy and house market was behind us. Even recovery will be a long journey, but Lowe's is great in terms of increase market share and cost management.

http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2010/02/22/daily1.html

Lowe’s Cos. Inc., which operates 18 Lowe’s home improvement stores in the 13-county Triangle area, on Monday reported increased earnings for its fourth quarter, ended Jan. 29. But results for the full year were down.

In another announcement Monday, Lowe’s (NYSE:LOW) said it has authorized a $5 billion share-buyback program. The company expects to purchase the stock over the next three years.
Lowe’s shares have traded between $13 and $24.50 over the last year. The stock closed Friday at $23.13 per share.

The earnings report Monday morning showed that Lowe’s earned $205 million, or 14 cents per diluted share, in the latest quarter, up from $162 million, or 11 cents per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Lowe’s exceeded analysts’ consensus estimate of 12 cents per share.

Sales grew 1.8 percent, to $10.2 billion. Sales at stores in operation for more than a year dropped 1.6 percent, but that improved on the downward trend earlier in the year.

“While the psychological impact of falling home prices and an uncertain employment picture continue to weigh on consumers, improving comparable-store sales trends, including improvement in many bigger-ticket, project categories, provides an encouraging sign that consumers are gaining the confidence to take on more discretionary projects,” Chief Executive Robert Niblock said in a statement Monday morning.

For the full year, Lowe’s earnings fell 18.8 percent to $1.78 billion, or $1.21 per diluted share, from nearly $2.2 billion, or $1.49 per diluted share, the previous year.

On average, analysts had forecast that the company would earn $1.23 per share in fiscal 2009.
Revenue declined 2.1 percent, to $47.2 billion.

For its first quarter ending April 30, Lowe’s expects earnings to range between 27 cents and 29 cents per diluted share. Lowe’s earned 32 cents per diluted share in the first quarter of 2009.
Lowe’s operates more than 1,700 stores in North America. On Feb. 8, it opened its first two stores in Mexico — both in Monterrey. The company expanded into Canada in 2007 and now has 16 stores there.