The Home Improvement Joust
In the spirit of Olympic competition, I decided to take a look at the winners and losers in the home improvement sector. Year to date, Home Depot (HD) is up 24% and gets the gold medal, while Lowe's (LOW) is flat and goes home empty-handed. But, given that it's sported the best same-stores sales since 2004, can Home Depot cross the finish line or has it run out of gas? What about Lowe's? Can the former high flyer get going, or is it a first-place loser?
Driven by strong comps, Home Depot has taken off. In fact, after bottoming out last August, the stock has risen 85%. Last year, the company was able to build on its 2.8% revenue growth in fiscal year 2011, turning in sales growth of 3.5% in 2012. Comps of 5% to 6% have swamped Lowe's 2%-to-3% same-store sales....304 more words left in this article. To read them, just click below and try Real Money FREE for 14 days.
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