Hardware Retailing The Industry's Source for Insights and Information
Today, home improvement retailer Lowe’s announced its first quarter sales and earnings in fiscal 2016. The results brought increases in both sales and comparable store sales for Lowe’s, which follows the announcement of similar better-than-expected earnings from rival Home Depot yesterday.
The company reported net earnings of $884 million for the quarter, which ended April 29, a 31.4-percent increase over the same period a year ago.
Sales during the first quarter increased 7.8 percent to $15.2 billion from $14.1 billion in the first quarter of 2015. Additionally, comparable store sales for the quarter increased 7.3 percent, and comparable sales for the U.S. home improvement business increased 7.5 percent.
“We executed well in the quarter, growing both transaction and average ticket to achieve comparable sales growth that exceeded our expectations,” Robert A. Niblock, Lowe’s chairman, president and CEO, says. “We continue to focus on providing better omnichannel customer experiences, and saw strength in indoor as well as outdoor categories.”
Results from both home improvement chains show a bright spot in the retail industry, according to article by CNBC. Retail giants like Macy’s struggle to keep consumers, as consumers continue to shift away from apparel and accessories to seek out big-ticket items like cars and homes.
“E-commerce and home improvement remain pockets of strength in a choppy and volatile consumer-spending backdrop, analyst Robert W. Baird says in the CNBC article.
As of April 29, Lowe’s operated 1,860 home improvement and hardware stores in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, representing 202.3 million square feet of retail selling space.
