Lowe’s Keeps Outlook Intact, Yet Analysts Trim Targets On Profit Pressure Concerns

• Ciccarelli expected Q2 profit pressure for Lowe’s from timing-related costs.
• RBC Capital warned that soft product demand and weaker category trends could pressure next year’s forecasts.  
• Lowe’s Q1 revenue and EPS both beat Wall Street estimates. 

Lowe's Companies (LOW) faced scrutiny from Wall Street after two firms reduced their price targets on the home improvement retailer, even as the company maintained its annual guidance and posted fiscal first-quarter (Q1) revenue above Street expectations.

Lowe’s stock is on track to snap a four-week losing streak and ended Wednesday ove 1% higher. The trimmed price targets still implied upside potential between 5% and 15%. 

Truist Cuts LOW’s Price Target 

Truist analyst Scot Ciccarelli reduced his target on Lowe’s to $255 from $280 while maintaining a ‘Buy’ rating, citing expected pressure on second-quarter profits tied to timing-related costs, according to TheFly.  

Ciccarelli said Lowe’s Q1 performance came in broadly as anticipated, with the retailer continuing to show resilience despite ongoing concerns surrounding interest rates and the broader economy. 

Shares of the company have fallen by more than 20% over the past three months as investors weighed slowing housing activity and weaker consumer sentiment.

While a broad rebound across the home improvement sector has yet to materialize, Truist argued that historically muted levels of home-related investment could signal the industry is nearing the lower end of its cycle, potentially creating room for future recovery.

RBC Flags Risks To LOW’s Future 

RBC Capital also lowered its price target on Lowe’s, cutting it to $232 from $264 while maintaining a ‘Sector Perform’ rating. The firm said the retailer delivered earnings per share above expectations by about 2%, although comparable sales came in slightly softer than analysts anticipated

RBC said Lowe’s keeping its 2026 outlook unchanged gave investors some confidence, but the firm is still unsure whether the company can deliver stronger earnings growth. 

Analysts at the firm pointed to weakness across key product categories and warned that consensus forecasts for next year could still face downside risk.

The retailer on Wednesday reported a Q1 revenue of $23.08 billion, up 10.26% year-on-year and $3.03 earnings per share. Both surpassed the Street estimate of $22.88 billion and $2.97, respectively, according to Fiscal AI data.  

LOW Retail Traders View 

However, on Stocktwits, retail sentiment around the stock remained in ‘bullish’ territory with a 168% increase in message volume over 24 hours. 

A user said, “beat there q1 earnings but ... there seems to be more challenges ahead.” 

Another user said, “$HD and $LOW have both reversed higher after lackluster earnings. We could be seeing the bottoming of the builders here, boosted up my position further with $NAIL (3x builders).”

LOW stock has slumped 8% year-on-year. 

Also See: Target Stock Faces ‘Rebuilding Phase’ Despite Q1 Earnings Beat, Analyst Warns

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.