Lowe’s Niblock reveals finer points to forecast

While describing his company’s second-quarter sales performance, Lowe’s CEO Robert Niblock offered an economic forecast tinged with optimism.

While signals from the housing market seem to be mixed, with rising home values balanced by lower levels of existing home sales, distressed sales have clouded the picture. “When distressed sales are omitted from the data, which we believe is a more appropriate indicator of the long-term health of own industry, existing home sales have seen a slight increase through the first half of the year revealing a more positive and sustainable trend,” he said.

Consumer confidence ratings and the company’s own second quarter consumer sentiment surveys also support the idea of increased spending on the home.

“In light of the positive trajectory of these factors, we believe home-improvement spending will continue to progress in tandem with strengthening job and income growth,” he said.

Lowe’s reported net earnings of $1.04 billion in the second quarter, as sales increased 5.7% to $16.6 billion.