Lowe's Companies Inc. (LOW) will be hiring 30,000 seasonal staff to manage traffic over the spring season. Although recruitment this year is up by 5,000 employees than last year, it is way below 45,000 employees hired in 2013.
Generally, spring is the busiest season for Lowe’s and other home improvement retailers, like The Home Depot, Inc. (HD), Builders FirstSource, Inc. (BLDR) and Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc. (BECN), as home renovation activity picks up considerably during this time. Moreover, a rebounding housing market will act as a catalyst this season.
Like every year, Lowe’s will recruit and train employees on a ‘market-by-market basis.’ The company has already started the recruiting program in the states of Arizona, Florida, California and Texas where winter has started to dissipate. Moreover, the company has been stocking store shelves with adequate supplies so that customers can get everything under one roof.
Driven by increased spending on home improvement, especially remodeling and big ticket items, Lowe’s posted strong results for the third quarter of fiscal 2014. The company’s earnings of 59 cents per share in the quarter grew 25.5% and were a penny ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 58 cents. The company witnessed a 5.6% rise in total revenue to $13,681 million, which came ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $13,546 million.
Moreover, the company’s extensive merchandising initiatives added to the good financials with comps registering growth across all regions and products categories. This is the second straight quarter in which the company has witnessed positive earnings surprise. Consequently, management provided an encouraging outlook for fiscal 2014.
Lowe’s, which carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), is scheduled to announce its fourth quarter and fiscal 2014 results on Feb 25, 2015.
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