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Lowe's shares were down 4 percent at $79 in premarket trading on
Wednesday.
Home Depot had cited higher demand for expensive items such as
flooring and roofing materials amid a strong housing market for
its bigger-than-expected sales for the three months ended April
30.
Lowe's focus on do-it-yourself customers has led it to lag Home
Depot, whose focus on high-spending professional contractors has
helped it benefit more from the strength in the housing market.
Home improvement has remained a bright spot in the gloomy U.S.
retail industry, as a strong labor market and historically low
mortgage rates drive demand for housing.
Lowe's is trying to catch up with Home Depot's lead on
professional contractors and last week said it would buy
wholesale retailer Maintenance Supply Headquarters for $512
million.
Sales at Lowe's stores open at least for a year rose 1.9
percent, below the 2.6 percent rise expected by analysts polled
by research firm Consensus Metrix.
Net income fell to $602 million, or 70 cents per share, in the
first quarter ended May 5, from $884 million, or 98 cents per
share, a year earlier.
Lowe's recorded a $464 million pre-tax loss on extinguishment of
debt in connection with its $1.6-billion cash tender offer.
Excluding items, the company earned $1.03 per share, missing the
average analysts' estimate of $1.06, according to Thomson
Reuters I/B/E/S.
Net sales rose 10.7 percent to $16.86 billion, slightly below
the average analysts' estimate of $16.96 billion.
The company maintained its sales forecast for the year ending
Feb. 2, but reduced its profit forecast to $4.30 per share from
$4.64 to reflect loss on extinguishment of debt.
Up to Tuesday's close, Lowe's stock had risen about 16 percent
this year.
(Reporting by Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bengaluru; Editing by
Sriraj Kaluvilla and Arun Koyyur)
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