Quality Investor

Lowe's Companies, Inc.

Rank #75Capital Return

LOW · NYSE · Consumer Cyclical

Lowe's Companies, Inc. (LOW) — Rank #75 by gross profitability (GP/assets 0.52) · ROE -89.5% · Piotroski F-Score 6 / 9.

As-of 2026-09-15 · CIK 0000060667 · all metrics point-in-time as of the filing date.

About

Lowe's Companies, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a home improvement retailer in the United States and Canada.

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It provides a line of products for construction, maintenance, repair, remodeling, and decorating. The company also offers home improvement products, such as appliances, seasonal and outdoor living, lumber, lawn and garden, kitchens and bath, hardware, building materials, millwork, paint, rough plumbing, tools, electrical, flooring, and décor. In addition, it provides installation services through independent contractors in various product categories; and extended protection plans and repair services. Further, the company provides design, distribution, and installation services for interior surface finishes to home builders and property managers. It sells its national brand-name merchandise and private brand products to professional customers, individual homeowners, and renters. The company serves its products through Lowes.com website, mobile applications, retail home improvement stores and outlet stores, and its branches. Lowe's Companies, Inc.

was founded in 1921 and is based in Mooresville, North Carolina.

Industry
Home Improvement Retail
Sector
Consumer Cyclical
State
NC
Filer Category
Large accelerated filer
Fiscal Year End
January 31

Price History

LOW+6.4% · +1.3% CAGRSPY+80.3% · +12.5% CAGR

Company Snapshot

P/E and reverse DCF are the primary valuation lenses at this stage.

Market Cap

$109.04B

P/E (annual)

16.4

P/S (annual)

1.3

P/B

P/OCF (annual)

11.1

Shareholder Yield

3.8%

Employees

300,000

Industry

Home Improvement Retail

Exchange

NYSE

Signal Flags

3 green1 red
Revenue growth acceleratingGrowth rate increasing year over year
Deferred revenue growingRevenue and deferred revenue both growing — retention signal
Sequential beat (rev + EPS)Both revenue and EPS exceeded prior quarter — 2-quarter streak
Operating margin decliningOperating margin lower than prior year

Quality Profile

Profitability

1/1 pass
GP / assets
0.52
Return on equity
-89.5%
Gross margin trend
PASS

Safety

1/1 pass
Balance-sheet safety
PASS
Debt / equity
Current ratio
1.10×
Net cash
-$36.61B

Cash Flow

3/3 pass
Positive FCF
PASS
Cash-backed earnings
PASS
Accruals healthy
PASS
SBC / revenue
0.3%

Growth

2/2 pass
Revenue growth
3.1%
Piotroski F-Score
6 / 9
Share dilution
-1.4%

Terry Smith quality gate

Passes 2/5 Terry Smith thresholds

1 of 5 threshold not computable from filed data.

What Growth Is Priced In

Implied revenue growth (10Y)

3.1%

incredible deal

The annual FCF growth rate today's price requires over a 10-year horizon (discount rate 10%, terminal growth 2.5%).

Buyback tailwind: -1.4% — per-share value needs a total required return of 1.6% once share-count change is priced in.

vs. own 6-year median revenue growth: 2.0%

priced above its own history

Cost-of-equity sensitivity (implied growth at different discount rates)

r = 8%

-1.0%

r = 10% (base)

3.1%

r = 12%

6.5%

Net debt / market cap: 33.6%— material leverage inflates the implied growth read.

Base FCF: $7.7B3Y mean FCF: $7.2B

Valuation History

Current multiple vs historical range at each filing date. Band spans 25th-75th percentile.

P / E

Price / diluted EPS

19.8xFair
12.3xmed 19.5x38.7x

P / S

Price / revenue per share

1.5xFair
0.7xmed 1.5x1.7x

P / B

Price / book value per share

N/A
15.0xmed 24.5x94.9x

P / GP

Price / gross profit per share

4.5xFair
2.3xmed 4.5x5.1x

P / FCF

Price / free cash flow per share

17.1xCheap
14.7xmed 18.3x24.0x

FCF yield, shareholder yield, and buyback activity are the primary reads at this stage.

Profitability

Gross profitability (GP / assets)

0.52

Primary signal (Novy-Marx).

Return on equity

-89.5%

Gross margin

33.5%

Revenue growth (YoY)

3.1%

Gross margin improving

Margin trend vs prior year.

PASS

Operating Leverage

2023202420252026
Revenue vs COGS
Revenue vs OpEx
Op. Income vs Revenue

Growth

Revenue CAGR (3Y)

-3.8%

Revenue CAGR (5Y)

-0.8%

Earnings CAGR (3Y)

1.1%

FCF CAGR (3Y)

4.2%

Anti-fragile safety

Balance-sheet safety

Composite anti-fragile check.

PASS

Debt / equity

Current ratio

1.10×

Quick ratio

0.22×

Net cash

-$36.61B

Cash & equivalents minus total debt.

Cash-flow health

Free cash flow

$7.65B

Operating cash flow minus capex.

Positive free cash flow

PASS

FCF / net income

0.15

Cash-backing of earnings.

FCF/NI divergence

Unfavorable divergence (yellow flag).

PASS

Accruals healthy

Cash-backed earnings.

PASS

SBC / revenue

0.3%

Stock-based comp intensity.

Dividend safety

Composite score

3.2 / 5

Good
Payout ratio
39.6%4/5 Strong
FCF coverage
2.90×4/5 Strong
Dividend growth streak
10 yr5/5 Strong
Balance-sheet health
D/E N/A · IC N/A0/5 Weak

Piotroski F-Score

F-Score

6 / 9

Fundamental-strength score (0-9).

Lifecycle Phase History

20212026
Op. Leverage
Capital Return
Value