How Much Is Lowe’s Worth?

From modest hardware store to top 50 Fortune 500 company, Lowe’s offers consumers a source for home improvement tools and tips. Here are some recent figures to help investors assess Lowe’s current value and to get an idea of where the company is heading financially.

Lowe’s Market Cap: $144.22B

Market capitalization considers all of a company’s stock in order to gauge its worth. The higher the cap, the more value investors associate with the company. Lowe’s market cap is considerably less than rival Home Depot’s, which clocks in at about $318 billion. However, the company has room to grow, as it holds a market share of about 12% vs. Home Depot’s 17%, according to MarketWatch. This may appeal to investors looking for greater future growth potential.

Lowe’s Net Worth: -$4.816B

Although market cap gives you a sense of what the market values a company at, the number is based on market sentiment, which, in turn, is based on a multitude of consumer variables and market players.

There are different ways to calculate net worth, but the simplest, most traditional calculation is made by subtracting a company’s liabilities from its assets, just as you might do at home.

Based on Lowe’s total assets and total liabilities, the company’s net worth is -$4.816 billion, down from $1.44 billion in November 2021.

Lowe’s Brand Value

Lowe’s nabbed a spot at No. 74 on Forbes’ 2020 list of the world’s most valuable brands, with a brand value of $10.5 billion. Its rival, Home Depot, appeared at No. 34 on the same list, with a brand value of $19.2 billion. For purposes of that list, the Lowe’s brand had jumped 13% in value over 2019.

Investors seem to have applauded the management change that Lowe’s made in 2018, when Marvin Ellison, former CEO of J.C. Penney Co. Inc., became the CEO of Lowe’s. Over the past 3 1/2 years, the stock has nearly doubled.

Lowe’s released its fourth-quarter and year-end earnings for 2021 on Feb. 23. Quarterly revenue and in-store sales both increased about 5% year over year. One driver was a tight real estate market that has prompted homeowners to renovate their existing homes. Another was a 23% increase in pro customer sales — purchases made by contractors and other professionals. That’s an important metric in terms of market share because professional customers shop more frequently and make much larger purchases than non-pro customers.

Also pointing to Lowe’s strength is its stock repurchase program. Stock repurchases are one way a company with cash to spare returns money to shareholders. Lowe’s bought back $13.1 billion worth of stock last year — $1.1 billion more than expected because of better-than-expected financial performance. Lowe’s also paid out $2 billion in dividends last year and awarded $256 million in bonuses to front-line employees.

Lowe’s History and Current Investors

H. Carl Buchan purchased the company from his brother-in-law, James Lowe. Buchan, anticipating America’s need for reconstruction following World War II, sold hardware, appliances and building materials. Since its founding in 1946, the company has grown to operate more than 2,200 home improvement and hardware stores and employ more than 300,000 people as of February 2022. Today, the hardware retail chain touts itself as the world’s second-largest home improvement retailer.

Some of the largest U.S. banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co., hold millions of shares of Lowe’s. Lowe’s biggest shareholder is investment titan The Vanguard Group Inc., with more than 57,000,000 shares, or 8.56% of Lowe’s shares.

Daria Uhlig and Sean Dennison contributed to the reporting for this article.

Data is accurate as of Feb. 24, 2022, and subject to change.