UPDATE: Lowe's Posts Upbeat Q2 Earnings, Lowers Sales Forecast

Shares of Lowe's Companies

fell more than 4% in pre-market trading after the company cut its sales growth forecast for fiscal 2014. However, the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings. Lowe's now projects FY14 total sales to rise by 4.5%, versus its earlier forecast for a 5% growth. The company now expects comparable sales to rise around 3.5%. It also projects to open about 10 home improvement and 5 hardware stores in the year. The Mooresville, North Carolina-based company posted a quarterly profit of $1.04 billion, up from $951 million, in the year-ago period. Its earnings per share climbed 18.2% to $1.04 versus $0.88. Its sales climbed 5.7% to $16.6 billion from $15.7 billion. However, analysts were projecting earnings of $1.02 per share on sales of $16.6 billion. Lowe's comparable sales rose 4.4% in the quarter. During the quarter, the company repurchased $1.1 billion of stock under its share repurchase program and paid $183 million in dividends. Lowe's operated 1,837 home improvement and hardware stores in the US, Canada and Mexico, as of August 1, 2014. "I would like to thank our employees for their hard work during our peak selling season, which helped us deliver solid results for the second quarter. We were able to recover most of the outdoor product sales missed in the first quarter due to unfavorable weather conditions," commented Robert A. Niblock, Lowe's chairman, president and CEO. Lowe's shares dropped 4.21% to $49.35 in pre-market trading.