Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) Q2 2023 Earnings Conference Call August 22, 2023 9:00 AM ET

Company Participants

Kate Pearlman - VP, IR

Marvin R. Ellison - Chairman and CEO

William P. Boltz - EVP, Merchandising

Joseph M. McFarland III - EVP, Stores

Brandon Sink - EVP and CFO

Conference Call Participants

Christopher Horvers - J.P. Morgan Chase

Simeon Gutman - Morgan Stanley

Elizabeth Suzuki - Bank of America

Zachary Fadem - Wells Fargo

Scot Ciccarelli - Truist Securities

Michael Lasser - UBS

Eric Bosshard - Cleveland Research

Steven Zaccone - Citigroup

Operator

Good morning, everyone and welcome to Lowe’s Companies Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. My name is Rob and I will be your operator for today’s call. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I’ll now turn the call over to Kate Pearlman, Vice President of Investor Relations and Treasurer.

Kate Pearlman

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, 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 2023. 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 will be discussing certain non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of these items to U.S. GAAP can be found on the quarterly earnings section of our Investor Relations website. Now, I will turn the call over to Marvin.

Marvin R. Ellison

Thank you, Kate and good morning, everyone. For the second quarter, comparable sales declined 1.6%. Our results were driven by strong Spring recovery, combined with continued growth in Pro and online, which helped to offset softer DIY discretionary spending and 160 basis points of pressure from lumber deflation. Q2 also reflected the importance of our ongoing investments in our total home strategy and despite an uncertain macro, these investments are paying off with positive comps in Pro and 6.9% comparable sales growth online as we continue to improve our omni-channel experience.