Lowe's
Q3 2022 Earnings Call
Nov 16, 2022, 9:00 a.m. ET
Contents:
- Prepared Remarks
- Questions and Answers
- Call Participants
Prepared Remarks:
Operator
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Lowe's Companies third-quarter 2022 earnings conference call. My name is Rob, and I'll be your operator for today's call. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the call over to Kate Pearlman, vice president of investor relations.
Kate Pearlman -- Vice President, Investor Relations
Thank you, and good morning. Here with me today are Marvin Ellison, chairman and chief executive officer; Bill Boltz, our executive vice president, merchandising; Joe McFarland, our executive vice president of stores; and Brandon Sink, our executive vice president and chief financial officer. I would like to remind you that our notice regarding forward-looking statements is included in our press release this morning, which can be found on Lowe's Investor Relations website. During this call, we will be making comments that are forward-looking, including our expectations for fiscal 2022.
Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied as a result of various risks, uncertainties, and important factors, including those discussed in the risk factors, MD&A, and other sections of our annual report on Form 10-K and our other SEC filings. Additionally, we'll be discussing certain non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of these items to U.S. GAAP can be found in the quarterly earnings section of our Investor Relations website.
Now, I'll turn the call over to Marvin.
Marvin Ellison -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you, Kate, and good morning, everyone. In the third quarter, our total company comparable sales increased 2.2%, while U.S. comps increased 3%. These better-than-expected sales were driven by improved DIY demand supported by fall nesting trends as travel slowed down and children returned to school.
We also saw continued momentum in Pro reflecting the success of our Pro initiatives and the resilience of home improvement demand. In addition to strong sales growth, our persistent focus on productivity once again drove improved operating performance with substantial improvement in adjusted operating margin of 54 basis points and adjusted diluted earnings per share of $3.27, an increase of 20% as compared to last year. These outstanding results enable us to make critical investments in our most important asset, our associates. In this quarter, we announced an incremental $170 million investment and permanent wage increases for our frontline hourly associates.