Quality Investor

Lowe's Companies, Inc.

Rank #74Capital ReturnWatchlistCompare with other stocks

LOW · NYSE · Consumer Cyclical

Lowe's Companies, Inc. (LOW) — Rank #74 by gross profitability (GP/assets 0.52) · ROE -89.5% · Piotroski F-Score 6 / 9.

As-of 2026-10-30 · 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

Company Snapshot

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

Market Cap

—

P/E (annual)

—

P/S (annual)

—

P/B

—

P/OCF (annual)

—

Shareholder Yield

—

Employees

300,000

Industry

Home Improvement Retail

Exchange

NYSE

11/12

Flags passed

LOW fails 1 critical flag

Passes 11 of 12 quality flags

  • FAIL
    Operating margin declining

    Operating margin lower than prior year

  • PASS
    Gross margin holding
  • PASS
    Dilution within 2%
  • PASS
    FCF not negative from investment
  • PASS
    Disclosure consistent
  • PASS
    Revenue not declining
  • PASS
    Free cash flow intact
  • PASS
    Passes safety gate
  • PASS
    Balance sheet stable
  • PASS
    No competitive retreat
  • PASS
    SBC not compressing margin
  • PASS
    No valuation convergence

Strengths Revenue growth accelerating · Deferred revenue growing · Sequential beat (rev + EPS)

A count of the 12 warning flags that could be evaluated. Unweighted: colour follows the worst flag.

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%

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

Profitability

Does it make money well?

Warning: Operating margin declining · GP/assets 0.52

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%

Cash Flow Health

Is the cash real?

No warning flags · FCF 15% above net income

Free cash flow

$7.65B

Operating cash flow minus capex.

Positive free cash flow

PASS

FCF vs net income

15.0%

(FCF − net income) ÷ |net income|. Positive: cash above earnings. Negative: below.

FCF not below net income

Fails when free cash flow is below net income (yellow flag).

PASS

Accruals healthy

Cash-backed earnings.

PASS

SBC / revenue

0.3%

Stock-based comp intensity.

Balance Sheet Strength

Can it survive a storm?

No warning flags · net debt $36.61B, F-Score 6/9

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.

Piotroski F-Score

6 / 9

Fundamental-strength score (0-9).

Valuation

Is the price reasonable?

No warning flags

Valuation History

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

P / E

Price / diluted EPS

19.8xExpensive
18.7xmed 19.1x23.5x

P / S

Price / revenue per share

1.5xCheap
1.2xmed 1.6x1.7x

P / GP

Price / gross profit per share

4.5xCheap
3.7xmed 4.7x5.1x

P / FCF

Price / free cash flow per share

17.1xCheap
14.7xmed 17.5x24.0x

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

Capital allocation quality

Composite score

2.8 / 5

Fair
Share count trend(net buybacks)
-1.4%3/5 Good
Buyback timing
vs own P/E history2/5 Fair
Dividend growth consistency
10 yr5/5 Strong
Net debt trajectory
-9.7%1/5 Weak

Lifecycle Phase History

20212026
Op. Leverage
Capital Return
Value

Price History

LOW-0.4% · -0.1% CAGRSPY+84.0% · +12.9% CAGR