Shares of Lowe’s Companies LOW, -1.26% dropped 4.8% in premarket trading Wednesday, after the home improvement retailer reported fiscal third-quarter sales that rose above expectations, but an adjusted profit that was just in line with forecasts. Net income fell to $692 million, or 91 cents a share, from $1.05 billion, or $1.36 a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding non-recurring items, such as losses on the extinguishment of debt, adjusted earnings per share came to $1.98, matching the FactSet consensus of $1.98. Sales increased 28.3% to $22.31 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $21.17 billion, as U.S. same-store sales jumped 30.4% to beat expectations of a 23.0% rise. The company invested $245 million in COVID-related support for its employees during the quarter, and repurchased $621 million worth of its stock. For the fourth quarter, Lowe’s expects adjusted EPS of $1.10 to $1.20, surrounding the FactSet consensus of $1.16, and same-store sales growth of 15% to 20%, above expectations of 13% growth. The stock has run up 33.5% year to date through Tuesday, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF XRT, +0.41% has climbed 22.3% and the S&P 500 SPX, -0.47% has gained 11.7%.
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