: Lowe’s sees pullback in discretionary spending, cuts earnings outlook

Lowe’s Cos. Inc. shares LOW were falling more than 5% in Tuesday’s premarket trading after the home-improvement company trimmed its full-year outlook and called out pressure on discretionary spending. The company logged fiscal third-quarter net earnings of $1.77 billion, or $3.06 a share, compared with $154 million, or 25 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Analysts were modeling $3.02 a share. Total sales fell to $20.5 billion from $23.5 billion, whereas the FactSet consensus was for $20.9 billion. Comparable sales fell 7.4%, which the company attributed to a pullback in do-it-yourself discretionary spending. “Given our 75% DIY mix, the DIY pressure disproportionately impacted our third quarter comp performance,” Chief Executive Marvin Ellison said in a release. For the full year, Lowe’s now anticipates $86 billion in total sales, whereas its prior forecast was for $87 billion to $89 billion. Lowe’s also now models about $13.00 in full-year adjusted earnings per share, compared with its prior outlook that called for $13.20 to $13.60.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.