Lowe's beat earnings and revenue estimates for the second quarter
The shares of Lowe's Companies Inc (NYSE:LOW) are up 4.2% at $189.85 this morning, after the home improvement retailer beat Wall Street's second-quarter earnings estimates. Specifically, Lowe's announced earnings of $4.25 per share on revenue of $27.57 billion, both of which were higher than what analysts anticipated, while its same-store sales decline was less than forecasted. Looking ahead, the company raised its full-year sales outlook, as builders and professionals purchase big-ticket items, offsetting the slowdown in do-it-yourself customers.
The brokerage bunch has yet to chime in, but the majority were bullish coming into today. In fact, 13 of the 18 in coverage recommend a "buy" or better, while five say "hold." Meanwhile, the 12-month consensus target price of $2321.44 is a 22% premium to current levels.
The equity could benefit from a shift in the options pits. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), LOW's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 1.25 stands higher than 95% of readings from the past year. Echoing this is the stock's Schaeffer's put/call volume ratio (SOIR) of 1.14, which sits higher than 81% of readings in its annual range. This means short-term options traders have rarely been more put-biased.
During yesterday's session, Lowe's stock closed below the $183 level and the 180-day moving average for the first time since March. However, today's positive price action has LOW ready to once again put both of those technical layers behind it, and the equity remains up 13.6% year-to-date,