Hardware retailer Lowe’s (click ticker for report: ) reported third quarter results that were roughly in-line with consensus expectations. Revenue grew a paltry 1.9% year-over-year to $12.1 billion, slightly better than expected. Earnings improved tremendously thanks to higher gross margins and cost cutting, nearly doubling year-over-year to $0.35 per share.
Same-store sales growth didn’t fare any better than the company-wide sales growth, increasing 1.8% in both the US and company-wide, though we expect some acceleration due to Hurricane Sandy in the fourth quarter (management agrees). Still, the pace of expansion doesn’t compare favorably to Home Depot (click ticker for report: ), which has been growing same-store sales closer to 4.2% due to its superior execution, in our view.
Gross margins ticked up 25 basis points to 34.3%, despite the company’s highly promotional environment throughout the quarter to clear inventory. Management foreshadowed that clearing this inventory and moving to better product during the fourth quarter should lift margins. However, margins have been secondary, as the true story at Lowe’s is management’s commitment to reduce costs. SG&A tumbled $210 million on an absolute basis; or a 200 basis point year-over-year reduction as a percentage of sales (29.1%). We expect to see continued cost containment success going forward.
The company continues to generate plenty of cash flow, with $3.5 billion in operating cash flow year-to-date, which has been utilized to repurchase $3.6 billion in stock during the past 9 months. The company intends to repurchase approximately $550 million worth of additional shares during the fourth quarter, which is a slower pace than normal, but reflective of working capital increases.
Looking ahead, the company raised its full-year same-store sales growth guidance to 1% (was 0.5%) and its full-year sales growth figure to 2% (was 1%) on a comparable 52-week fiscal year. The firm didn’t raise its full-year earnings guidance of $1.64 per share, but we wouldn’t be too shocked to see the company exceed the figure by a few cents.
While we remain bullish on the housing market, we’re less optimistic about Lowe’s. Given it current valuation, we aren’t interested in adding shares to the portfolio of our Best Ideas Newsletter. In fact, since the name scores a 4 on the Valuentum Buying Index (our stock-selection methodology), we would need to see a substantially lower price before getting interested in the retailer.