Lowe's In Need of Home Improvement: Fool by Numbers

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On May 21, Lowe's (NYSE: LOW) released first-quarter earnings for the period ended May 4.

• Revenues increased marginally, partially due to the woes in the housing market.
• First-quarter comparable same-store sales declined 6.3%.
• For the second quarter, same-store sales are anticipated to decline 1% to 3%.
• Lowe's is a three-star stock in Motley Fool CAPS, while competitor Home Depot (NYSE: HD) carries a two-star rating.

(Figures in millions, except per-share data.)

Income Statement Highlights

	Q1 2007	Q1 2006	Change
Sales	$12,172	$11,921	2.1%
Net Profit	$739	$841	(12.1%)
EPS	$0.48	$0.53	(9.4%)
Diluted Shares	1,540	1,590	(3.1%)

Get back to basics with the income statement.

Margin Checkup

	Q1 2007	Q1 2006	Change*
Gross Margin	35.0%	35.0%	0.0
Operating Margin	10.2%	11.8%	(1.6)
Net Margin	6.1%	7.1%	(1.0)

*Expressed in percentage points.

Margins are the earnings engine.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Assets	Q1 2007	Q1 2006	Change
Cash + ST Invest.	$1,200	$1,657	(27.6%)
Accounts Rec.	No Data	No Data	No Data
Inventory	$8,501	$7,817	8.8%

Liabilities	Q1 2007	Q1 2006	Change
Accounts Payable	$5,211	$4,553	14.5%
Long-Term Debt	$4,306	$3,446	25.0%

The balance sheet reflects the company's health.

Cash Flow Highlights

	Q1 2007	Q1 2006	Change
Cash From Ops.	$2,139	$2,110	1.4%
Capital Expenditures	$707	$732	(3.4%)
Free Cash Flow	$1,432	$1,378	3.9%

Free cash flow is a Fool's best friend.

Related Foolishness:

• Lowe's Growth Woes
• Housing Woes Stain Sherwin-Williams
• Woes Slow at Lowe's

Home Depot is a Motley Fool Inside Value recommendation.

Fool by Numbers is designed to give you the raw earnings information in a timely fashion, putting all the numbers you need in one easy-to-read place. But at The Motley Fool, we believe numbers tell only part of the story, so check Fool.com for more of our in-depth discussion of what the numbers mean. This data has been provided by Netscribes. To provide feedback on this article, please click on the "feedback" button below.