(Reuters) – Lowe’s Cos Inc reported a bigger-than-expected drop in same-store sales on Wednesday, as demand eased for its home-improvement tools and building materials from pandemic highs.
Americans hunkered down during the lockdowns engaged in more do-it-yourself (DIY) home projects, lifting sales of paint and building materials at Lowe’s and bigger rival Home Depot in 2020.
The U.S. housing boom is showing signs of cooling due to rising mortgage rates, while sales to DIY customers have slowed significantly with more people returning to offices.
“Because 75% of our customer base is DIY, our Q1 sales were disproportionately impacted by the cooler spring temperatures,” Chief Executive Officer Marvin Ellison said in a statement.
The home improvement chain reaffirmed its fiscal 2022 outlook, while bigger rival Home Depot raised it on Tuesday.
Lowe’s net earnings edged higher to $2.33 billion, or $3.51 per share, from $2.32 billion, or $3.21 per share, a year earlier.
Same-store sales decreased 4% in the first quarter, compared with Wall Street expectation of a 2.5% fall, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)