By Deborah Mary Sophia
(Reuters) -Lowe’s Cos Inc cut its annual sales and profit forecasts on Tuesday, joining larger rival Home Depot in highlighting wanting demand for home improvement tools with sticky inflation forcing consumers to cut back on discretionary spending.
Still, the shares reversed premarket losses and were up 2% in morning trading. Analysts said the results were not as bad as feared after Home Depot’s gloomy outlook last week.
A shift in spending to services, falling lumber prices and a damp start to the Spring season also squeezed sales against the backdrop of inflation-wary consumers pausing larger projects and scouting for cheaper options even for small-scale renovations.
Some customers were ditching preferred brands for more affordable labels while others were picking substitutes of lower quality or moving to cheaper countertops, said Bill Darcy, CEO of trade group the National Kitchen & Bath Association.
Lowe’s forecast cut was smaller
