Lowe's Vs. Home Depot: Who Had The Better Earnings?

Lowe's Companies, Inc.LOWearnings report resonated very well with investors although some analysts weren't equally convinced.

Let's take a look at how Lowe's report compared to its much larger competitor Home Depot Inc HD who reported its fourth-quarter results on February 21.

Headline Numbers

Lowe's: EPS beat of six cents per share, revenue beat of $0.4 billion.

Home Depot: EPS beat of 11 cents per share, revenue beat of $0.4 billion.

See Also: Wal-Mart Should Follow Home Depot's Example To Improve Return On Capital

EPS, Revenue Growth

• Lowe's: EPS rose 45.8 percent from a year ago while sales rose 19.2 percent from a year ago.
• Home Depot: EPS rose 23.1 percent from a year ago while sales rose 5.8 percent a year ago.

Comparable Sales

• Lowe's: Comparable sales rose 5.1 percent in the quarter.
• Home Depot: Comparable sales rose 5.8 percent in the quarter.

Dividend And Buybacks

• Lowe's: $306 million paid to investors in dividends and the company bought back $551 million worth of its own stock — no increase announced.
• Home Depot: Announced a 29 percent increase in quarterly dividend to $0.89 per share and authorized a new $15.0 billion share buyback program.

Guidance

• Lowe's: Full-year sales growth of 5 percent, comparable sales growth of 3.5 percent, expects to open 35 new stores.
• Home Depot: Full-year sales growth of 4.6 percent, comparable store sales growth of 4.6 percent, EPS growth of 10.5 percent, expects to open six new stores.

Stock Performance

• Lowe's: Shares of Lowe's are higher by 14.52 percent since Jan. 1 and higher by 17.8 percent over the past year.
• Home Depot: Shares of Home Depot are higher by 9.4 percent since Jan. 1 and higher by 16.2 percent over the past year.