Lowe’s Companies Incs fourth-quarter earnings, reported on Wednesday, exceeded Wall Street estimates. However, the department store operator reported a slower-than-anticipated comparable sales growth.
Shares of Lowe’s Companies Inc closed higher for a second consecutive trading session in New York on Wednesday. It has also been the sharpest daily surge since February 15th. The stock went up 2.47% ($2.59) to $107.62, after touching an intraday high at $109.86, or a price level not seen since October 10th ($111.11).
Shares of Lowe’s Companies Inc have risen 16.52% so far in 2019 compared with an 11.39% gain for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).
In 2018, Lowe’s stock went down 0.62%, thus, it again outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 6.24% loss.
Total revenue went up 1% year-on-year to $15.65 billion during the fourth quarter ended on February 1st.
Sales at stores, which are open for at least 13 months, grew 1.7% year-on-year during the fourth quarter, falling short of the median analyst estimate of a 2.03% growth.
However, weak housing market in Canada, where the company has already closed 31 unprofitable stores, remained a concern.
“We anticipate continued weakness in the Canadian housing market in the near-term,” Lowe’s Chief Executive Officer Marvin Ellison was quoted as saying by Reuters.
The US home improvement chain posted a net loss of $824 million during the quarter ended on February 1st, after reporting a profit of $554 million in the year-ago period. The company also said it had incurred pre-tax charges of $1.6 billion during the past quarter due to store closures across North America.
Meanwhile, Lowe’s earnings per share, excluding special items, were reported at $0.80 during the fourth quarter, which outstripped the median analyst forecast of $0.79 per share.
According to CNN Money, the 28 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Lowe’s Companies Incs stock price, have a median target of $112.00, with a high estimate of $128.00 and a low estimate of $95.00. The median estimate represents a 4.07% upside compared to the closing price of $107.62 on February 27th.
The same media also reported that 18 out of 32 surveyed investment analysts had rated Lowe’s Companies Incs stock as “Buy”, while 10 – as “Hold”.
Weekly Pivot Levels
By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for Lowe’s Companies Inc (LOW) are presented as follows:
Central Pivot Point – $105.47
R1 – $107.15
R2 – $108.02
R3 – $109.70
R4 – $111.37
S1 – $104.60
S2 – $102.92
S3 – $102.05
S4 – $101.17
TradingPedia.com is a financial media specialized in providing daily news and education covering Forex, equities and commodities. Our academies for traders cover 
