As with Home Depot’s most recent earnings report, second quarter sales this spring for Lowe’s were weak, and primarily for the same reason: a decline in homeowner upgrades and repairs.
The Mooresville, North Carolina-based retailer, which currently has more than 1,760 stores across the country, reports that it saw around $26 billion in sales between May and July of this year, up from $24 billion during the same time in 2025.
In a statement, Marvin Ellison, Lowe’s chief executive officer, said the second quarter results were due to a combination of in-store and online sales, “despite pressure in discretionary do-it-yourself spending.”
Ellison further forecast that the company’s “near-term remains dynamic,” with Lowe’s teams “executing at a high level.” In looking at the rest of the year, the company has lowered its overall outlook, forecasting a range of $92 billion, compared to an earlier predicted $94 billion.
Founded in 1921, Lowe’s is the second largest home hardware chain in the country, behind only Home Depot.
The home improvement sector, observes the Wall Street Journal, has in recent months been challenged by “steep interest rates and sticky inflation” resulting in many homeowners simply putting off big ticket renovation projects.
Even so, notes the site Motley Fool, “sales to professional contractors, an area of focus, were strong.”
Whatever its current financials, the company continues to build new locations, having completed eight stores last year, and announcing in June that it will open five new stores in growing Port St. Lucie, Florida, with the first measuring around 94,000 square feet.
Plans have also been announced for work to begin early next year on the construction of a 107,000-squar-foot outlet near San Antonio.
August 31, 2026
By Garry Boulard
