Lowe's posts record-breaking quarter
Fourth-quarter sales and earnings hit new highs.
The customers' continued focus on their homes combined with strong execution in stores led to record-breaking fourth quarter sales and earnings, Lowe's reported Wednesday morning.
Sales reached $20.3 billion in the quarter, up 27% over the same quarter last year. Net earnings also rose dramatically: up more than 90% to $978 million.
U.S. comp-store sales at Lowe's increased 28.6%, a figure that outpaced that of rival Home Depot, which reported comps of 25.0% one day earlier.
CEO Marvin Ellison pointed to strong execution and broad-based demand. All merchandising departments saw growth of more than 16%, and all U.S. regions saw growth of 19%.
Even more impressive: Lowes.com saw growth of 121%.
The company emphasized its support of its employees throughout the pandemic. Lowe's said it invested more than $100 million in COVID-related support of frontline hourly associates in the fourth quarter, bringing its total COVID-related associate financial support to more than $900 million for fiscal 2020.
Lowe's finished the year with 1,974 stores in the U.S. and Canada.
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Bottom line: Fourth quarter net earnings of $978 million is up 92% from the year-ago quarter. For the full year, net earnings were up 36.3%.
What the CEO said: “I am pleased with our progress in 2020 as we generated nearly $90 billion in sales, with annual sales growth of over $17 billion, while also enhancing our operating efficiency,” said CEO Marvin Ellison “Looking ahead to 2021, we expect to grow market share and drive further operating margin expansion.”
For more information: Lowe’s full earnings release can be found here.