NEW YORK — For Lowe’s, the improving housing market is still a bust.
The nation’s second-largest home-improvement retailer cut its full-year earnings and revenue forecasts Monday after posting a 10 percent drop in second-quarter net income. Revenue at stores open at least a year, a key yardstick, declined 0.4 percent.
Lowe’s results were hurt in part by a timing shift in how the retailer reported the quarter and a charge tied to job cuts. But the latest performance also shows that the company’s efforts to revamp its merchandise and prices aren’t working while its rival Home Depot is getting a boost from the improving but still weak housing market.
In particular, Lowe’s return last summer to offering permanent low prices on many items across the store, instead of offering fleeting discounts, hasn’t resonated with shoppers who have been accustomed to seeing big sale signs. In fact, Lowe’s said Monday that it will take until the middle of next year to reap the benefits of the strategy.
Lowe’s performance is in contrast to last week’s upbeat report from Home Depot Inc. The nation’s largest home-improvement retailer boosted its full-year outlook, citing its performance so far this year. And it said that strong cost controls and healthy sales of paint, bathroom accessories and kitchen installations helped lift its net income by 12 percent during the period. Revenue at stores open at least a year rose 2.1 percent.
