S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE:LOW) reported its results for the third quarter. Lowe’s Companies is a home improvement retailer offering products to homeowners, renters, and commercial business customers.

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Lowe’s Companies Earnings Cheat Sheet for the Third Quarter

Results: Net income for the home improvement store fell to $225 million (18 cents per share) vs. $404 million (29 cents per share) a year earlier. This is a decline of 44.3% from the year earlier quarter.

Revenue: Rose 2.7% to $11.9 billion from the year earlier quarter.

Actual vs. Wall St. Expectations: LOW missed the mean estimate of 33 cents per share. Analysts were expecting revenue of $11.7 billion. Lowe’s reported that charges related to store closings and discontinued projects reduced pre-tax earnings by 17 cents per share.

Quoting Management: “Our performance is not at the level we expect relative to the market,” commented Robert A. Niblock, Lowe’s chairman, president and CEO. “We are making the changes necessary to right size the organization, improve speed to market and enhance the shopping experience. We are keenly focused on improving our core business while also developing new capabilities and services for the future. I am confident we are moving forward on a clear path that is not dependent on an unlikely near-term economic recovery.”

Key Stats:

The company has now seen net income fall in each of the last three quarters. In the second quarter, net income fell 0.2% from the year earlier, while the figure fell 5.7% in the first quarter.

The company’s revenue has now risen for two straight quarters. In the second quarter, revenue increased 1.3% to $14.54 billion from the year earlier quarter.

Looking Forward: The outlook for the company’s results in the upcoming quarter is unfavorable. The average estimate for the fourth quarter is 23 cents per share, down from 26 cents ninety days ago. For the fiscal year, the average estimate has moved down from $1.63 a share to $1.59 over the last ninety days.

Competitors to Watch: The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD), Builders FirstSource, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLDR), Lumber Liquidators Hldgs., Inc. (NYSE:LL), Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO), Hornbach-Baumarkt-AG (NYSE:HBM), PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM), Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL), D.R. Horton (NYSE:DHI), KB Home (NYSE:KBH), Lennar Corp (NYSE:LEN), Beazer Homes (NYSE:BZH), Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW), Sears Holdings (NASDAQ:SHLD), Target (NYSE:TGT) and Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT).

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(Company fundamentals provided by Xignite Financials. Earnings estimates provided by Zacks)

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