Lowe’s (LOW) first quarter profit was 14% higher year-over-year due to unseasonably warm weather in the quarter, but the company lowered expectations for 2012 in its earnings release on Monday, citing “a cautious view of the housing and macro demand environment.”
America’s second-largest home improvement store now expects to earn $1.73 to $1.83 a share, down from $1.75 to $1.85. This announcement sent the company’s shares down almost 10% in morning trading.
For the first quarter, the Mooresville, N.C. company reported a net income of $527 million ($0.43 per share), up from $461 million ($0.34 per share) one year ago. Revenue was up 8% to $13.15 billion from $12.19 billion.
These numbers slightly outpaced expectations from analysts. FactSet Research saw the company posting a profit of 42 cents a share for the first quarter, on sales of $12.99 billion
“We delivered solid results for the quarter, consistent with our expectation at the beginning of the year,” said Robert Niblock, Lowe’s chairman, president and CEO. “While we capitalized on better than anticipated weather during most of the quarter, demand for seasonal products slowed toward the end.”
That slow down prompted the downward revision of expectations for the year. The company still maintained that revenue would rise 1 to 2%, which indicates a boost of $50.69 billion to 51.2% billion.
