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Lowe’s reported third quarter earnings Wednesday, beating analyst expectations.
The home improvement retailer also lowered the top end of its full-year revenue guidance.
Lowe’s reported results a day after rival Home Depot’s earnings topped expectations.

A Lowe’s employee walks through the store during the grand opening of the Lowe’s store in San Francisco, California.
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Lowe’s reported third-quarter earnings on Wednesday that beat analysts’ expectations, with revenue up compared to the same period last year.
The home improvement retailer also updated its guidance, lowering the top end of its revenue outlook to approximately $97 to $98 billion for the full year. The previous top end was $99 billion. Lowe’s also cut guidance for comparable sales to be flat or down 1%, compared with earlier this year when it expected it to be down 1% to up 1%.

Here’s what Lowe’s reported on Wednesday compared with analyst expectations, based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv:

Earnings per share: $3.27 vs. $3.10
Revenue: $23.48 billion vs. $23.13 billion

Revenue was up 3% compared with the same period last year.
Shares of Lowe’s rose more than 2% on light volume in premarket trading Wednesday. The stock, which is down more than 19% so far this year, rose Tuesday following rival Home Depot’s earnings report.
The company said its earnings were driven by 19% growth in its professional segment, and that its do-it-yourself sales improved. Lowe’s added its website sales grew 12%.
Lowe’s will discuss the results on its earnings conference call, set for 9 a.m. ET Wednesday.

Lowe’s earnings report comes a day after Home Depot’s third quarter earnings beat analyst’s estimates. On Tuesday, Home Depot said its professional and do-it-yourself sales had positive growth during the period, adding that professionals have said their backlogs remain strong.
Home Depot executives on Tuesday had noted the company was “navigating a unique environment,” and was unable to predict how rising costs and other pressures were affecting its customers. The company said that while its customer transactions were down, it had higher ticket prices driven by inflation.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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Mortgage application volume rose 2.7% last week compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Thursday saw the sharpest one-day drop in the average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage since daily record-keeping began in 2009.
On a weekly average, the rate on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($647,200 or less) decreased to 6.9% from 7.14%.

A home for sale in the Mission Hills area of Los Angeles Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022 in Mission Hills, CA.
Brian Van Der Brug | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images

Mortgage application volume rose 2.7% last week compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index. An additional adjustment was made for the Veteran’s Day holiday.
The small increase followed a government report last week showing that inflation may be starting to ease. That, in turn, sent bond yields plunging and mortgage rates with them. Thursday saw the sharpest one-day drop in the average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage since daily record-keeping began in 2009.

On a weekly average, the rate on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($647,200 or less) decreased to 6.9% from 7.14%, with points decreasing to 0.56 from 0.77 (including the origination fee) for loans with a 20% down payment.
On a daily basis, the rate on Thursday alone dropped 60 basis points, according to a separate survey from Mortgage News Daily.
Applications to refinance a home loan fell 2% for the week and were 88% lower than the same week one year ago. The rate drop came toward the end of the week, and Friday was a federal holiday, Veteran’s Day, so it is possible refinance demand has yet to react fully to the rate drop.
Mortgage applications to purchase a home, which don’t generally react quickly to interest rate changes, increased 4% for the week and were 46% lower than the same week one year ago.
“Purchase applications increased for all loan types, and the average purchase loan dipped to its smallest amount since January 2021,” said Joel Kan, a Mortgage Bankers Association economist.

Loan sizes may be falling too due falling home prices or potentially more first-time buyers getting into the market again at the entry level.
Mortgage rates did not move much to start this week, but the yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury dropped Tuesday, first in the morning after a monthly read on U.S. producer prices increased at a slightly slower pace than expected.
They fell further later, hitting a nearly six-week low, after news broke that missiles hit Poland, killing two people. That sparked fears of greater political risk in the already war-torn region. Mortgage rates loosely follow the yield on the 10-year Treasury.

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Doyle was chief executive of Domino’s from 2010 to 2018 and oversaw the pizza chain’s transformation into a digital powerhouse.
Doyle replaces Restaurant Brands’ current co-chairs, Daniel Schwartz and Alex Behring, who are co-managing partners of 3G Capital.

Patrick Doyle
Scott Mlyn | CNBC

Restaurant Brands International announced Wednesday that it is hiring former Domino’s Pizza CEO Patrick Doyle as its executive chair.
Doyle, 59, was chief executive of Domino’s from 2010 to 2018, and oversaw the pizza chain’s transformation into a digital powerhouse in the restaurant industry. When he took the reins of the company, its shares were trading at under $12. By the time of his departure, the stock was trading at more at $270 per share.

“This is an opportunity for me to work closely with someone who has had an incredible track record in the restaurant industry, one of the most successful runs ever,” Restaurant Brands CEO Jose Cil told CNBC.
Doyle’s appointment comes as Restaurant Brands tries to turn around Burger King’s U.S. business. The chain has lagged behind rivals in its home market and is investing in marketing and menu improvements to revive sales.
Restaurant Brands is also looking to step up its digital efforts at its chains, which also include Tim Hortons, Popeyes and Firehouse Subs. In its latest quarter, digital transactions accounted for roughly a third of system-wide sales across the company. In contrast, Domino’s generated more than half of global retail sales from digital transactions last year, largely thanks to steps taken during Doyle’s tenure.
In an interview with CNBC, Doyle said he’ll spend the next few months learning more about Restaurant Brands’ chains before coming up with ideas to improve the brands. But he said the two underlying fundamentals are the strength of the company’s franchisees and its growing digital business, which he said was still in the early stages.
Doyle replaces Restaurant Brands’ current co-chairs, Daniel Schwartz and Alex Behring. The two are co-managing partners of 3G Capital, which Behring also co-founded. The Brazilian private equity firm took Burger King private in 2010, merged it with Tim Hortons in 2014 and named the new company Restaurant Brands International. 3G employed similar strategies to create Kraft Heinz and Anheuser-Busch InBev.

3G is still Restaurant Brands’ largest shareholder, and Schwartz told CNBC the firm is still committed to being a long-term shareholder. Behring and Schwartz will remain on the board.
“It’s 12 years in, and we feel like we’re still in the early innings, and there’s a ton more value to create for a really long time,” Schwartz said.
As chair, Doyle won’t earn a salary or a cash bonus. Instead, he’ll receive a one-time equity package of 2 million stock options at fair market value that will vest in five years. He’ll also receive 500,00 restricted share units that will gradually vest over five years and 750,00 units tied to performance that will vest in 5.5 years.
To receive the performance share units, Restaurant Brands’ stock will have to compound annually at least 6%, with the payout increasing if shares rise 10% and 15% annually.
Doyle also plans to buy 500,000 common shares of Restaurant Brands for roughly $30 million. He has agreed to maintain the investment for five years, subject to certain unspecified conditions and regulatory approvals.
After leaving Domino’s, Doyle joined the Carlyle Group as an executive partner focused on acquisitions. He said that he missed the restaurant business and interacting with franchisees in his time away from the industry.
Doyle said he’s known Schwartz for more than a decade and Behring nearly as long. The three men have discussed working together, but they said the plan to have Doyle become company chair didn’t come together until several months ago.

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English breakfasts and traditional Christmas dinners could be off the menu as avian flu prompts fears of egg and turkey shortages.
The U.K. is currently experiencing its worst outbreak of the highly infectious disease.

Egg shortages could be on the cards as avian flu sweeps through Europe.
Sam Mellish / Contributor / Getty Images

LONDON — The classic English fry-up and traditional Christmas turkey dinner could be under threat as Britain deals with the impact of rising cases of avian flu.
Fried, poached, scrambled and boiled eggs may well be off the menu as some British supermarkets have warned that supplies could be disrupted, while grocery stores have also made moves to bolster turkey stocks ahead of the festive season.

Britain’s second-largest supermarket group Sainsbury’s says it has ordered more turkeys to give itself a “buffer” as the festive season approaches, while the top supermarket chain, Tesco, said in October it expects to have enough turkeys for Christmas, according to Reuters.
Shoppers at discount store Lidl are reportedly only able to purchase up to three boxes of eggs, while the U.K.’s third-largest supermarket chain Asda has limited customers to two boxes per transaction.
The current avian flu outbreak is the largest ever experienced in the U.K., and the government ordered for all poultry and captive birds in England to be kept indoors from Nov. 7 to try to contain the highly infectious disease.
Governments across Europe have culled bird populations to limit the spread of avian flu. Almost six million birds have been killed in the Netherlands since October 2021, while Spain, Bulgaria, Denmark and France have also been badly affected. 
Nearly 50 million birds have been killed in Europe this year as countries try to contain the disease, according to the EU’s Food Safety Agency.

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Monday – Friday, 6:00 – 7:00 PM ET

It’s that time again! “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer rings the lightning round bell, which means he’s giving his answers to callers’ stock questions at rapid speed.

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Amerco: “It’s an inexpensive stock. … I think it might be a good place to be. I’ll do more work on it.”

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McKesson Corp: “I think McKesson is an incredible long-term holding.”

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Quanta Services Inc: “That’s a very, very good company. I think you could do a lot worse than that one.”

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BRC Inc: “I’m not recommending any companies that are losing money.”

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B&G Foods Inc: “It’s not working, and I think you’ve got to roll away from it.”

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PoleStar: “It’s an interesting spec, but again, another one that’s losing money.”

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Deutsche Bank AG: “We’ve got so many good banks in our country. … I’d rather see you in those.”

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Vail Resorts Inc: “I think that is an interesting and absolutely excellent way to play the travel situation.”

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Enovix Corp: “Losing a lot of money. Can’t be in there.”

Jim Cramer’s Guide to Investing

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Monday – Friday, 6:00 – 7:00 PM ET

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Tuesday said that the market’s current rally could last through the middle of next month.
Cramer said that the likely impending Santa Claus rally, seasonal gains in the stock market during the winter holiday period, could set the market up for a sustained run.

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Tuesday said that the market’s current rally could last through the middle of next month, leaning on charts analysis from Jessica Inskip, OptionsPlay’s director of education and product.
“The charts, as interpreted by Jessica Inskip, suggest that this rally could potentially have real legs, at least through mid-December. Things could change as we get closer to the next Fed meeting a month from today, but in the meantime, there’s a lot to like about this market,” he said.

related investing news

Technical price charts show where the stock market rally could stall out

9 hours ago

Stocks rose on Tuesday after the October producer price index data signaled that inflation is cooling, just one week after a lighter-than-expected consumer price index report indicated that the prices of goods and services are increasing at a slower pace.
In addition, the Federal Reserve’s next meeting and the November consumer price index data release don’t take place until next month. 
“Even if [Fed Chair] Jay Powell decides not to ease up on the rate hikes, we’re not going to know about it for weeks, which means the averages are free to romp in the meantime,” he said.
To explain Inskip’s analysis, Cramer examined the daily chart of the S&P 500.

Arrows pointing outwards

Inskip noted that there was a “bullish divergence” (in yellow) in late September and early October, he said. This means that two important momentum indicators — the relative strength index and the moving average convergence/divergence line — gained strength at the same time. Their upturn predicted the market’s recent rally, according to Cramer.

Then, on Wednesday, the S&P 500 broke through a key Fibonacci level, an area where a stock might pivot or encounter resistance. Inskip believes its next stop could be the 200-day moving average, shown in the chart — a level the S&P 500 couldn’t reach at its peak in August.
“Maybe this time will be different now that inflation finally seems to be going in the right direction,” he said.
For more analysis, watch Cramer’s full explanation below.

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Sustainable Energy

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Fortescue Future Industries says it’s partnering with another firm called Windlab on the project, known as the North Queensland Super Hub.
“Energy generated from the project stands to produce green hydrogen as well as feed renewable power to the grid,” FFI says.
Hydrogen has a diverse range of applications and can be deployed in a wide range of industries.

This image shows part of a green hydrogen facility in Spain. A number of major economies, including the EU, are looking to develop green hydrogen projects in the coming years.
Angel Garcia | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Plans for an Australian “super hub” focused on the generation of wind, solar and green hydrogen are taking shape, with those involved hoping it will start producing power by 2027.
In a statement Monday, Fortescue Future Industries said it was partnering with another firm called Windlab on the project, known as the North Queensland Super Hub.

FFI said the hub “could generate more than 10GW [gigawatts] of wind and solar power and underpin the industrial-scale production of green hydrogen from purpose-built facilities within Queensland.”
The initial stage of the planned project will center around the development of the 800 megawatt Prairie Wind Farm and another 1,000 MW project. On condition of approvals, construction of the first phase is slated to begin in 2025.
“Energy generated from the project stands to produce green hydrogen as well as feed renewable power to the grid,” FFI said.

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Described by the International Energy Agency as a “versatile energy carrier,” hydrogen has a diverse range of applications and can be deployed in a wide range of industries.
It can be produced in a number of ways. One method includes electrolysis, with an electric current splitting water into oxygen and hydrogen.

If the electricity used in this process comes from a renewable source such as wind or solar then some call it “green” or “renewable” hydrogen. Today, the vast majority of hydrogen generation is based on fossil fuels.
In Aug. 2021, oil and gas giant BP said “the production of green hydrogen and green ammonia using renewable ‎energy” had become technically feasible at scale in Australia.
The energy supermajor’s conclusion was based on the findings of a feasibility study announced in May 2020 and backed by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, solar developer Lightsource bp and professional services firm GHD Advisory.

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For its part, FFI said on Monday that industrial-scale green hydrogen had been “constrained by the lack of renewable supply to power the process of extracting hydrogen from water through electrification.”
Commenting on the proposals, FFI’s CEO Mark Hutchinson said the natural resources of Australia — including solar, wind and landmass — were “unrivalled in terms of their potential for the production of green energy” and “green hydrogen in particular.”  
“For the first time, the North Queensland Super Hub will provide the quantity of renewable energy we need to support large-scale green hydrogen production right here in Queensland,” he went on to add.
Ambition, but work to be done
The news out of Australia comes as other large economies look to develop plans for green hydrogen.
The European Commission, for example, has said it wants 40 GW of renewable hydrogen electrolyzers to be installed in the EU by 2030.
Last week, during a roundtable discussion at the COP27 climate conference in Egypt, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz described green hydrogen as “one of the most important technologies for a climate neutral world.”
“Green hydrogen is the key to decarbonizing our economies, especially for hard to electrify sectors such as steel production, the chemical industry, heavy shipping and aviation,” Scholz added, before going on to acknowledge that a significant amount of work was needed for the sector to mature.
“Of course, green hydrogen is still an infant industry, its production is currently too cost intensive compared to fossil fuels,” he said. “There’s also a ‘chicken and egg’ dilemma of supply and demand where market actors block each other, waiting for the other to move.”
Also appearing on the panel was Christian Bruch, CEO of Siemens Energy. “Hydrogen will be indispensable for the decarbonization of … industry,” he said.
“The question is, for us now, how do we get there in a world which is still driven, in terms of business, by hydrocarbons,” he added. “So it requires an extra effort to make green hydrogen projects … work.” More

Abortion providers are asking Kentucky’s supreme court to block the state’s near-total abortion ban.
During oral arguments, several of the justices sounded skeptical of the ban.
A favorable ruling by the court is the only path for access to abortion in the state in the foreseeable future.
Midterm voters in Kentucky rejected an amendment that said there is no right to an abortion under the state constitution.

Attendees march during a rally encouraging voters to vote yes on Amendment 2, which would add a permanent abortion ban to Kentuckys state constitution, on the steps of the Kentucky State Capitol in Frankfort, Kentucky, on October 1, 2022.
Stefani Reynolds | AFP | Getty Images

Several Kentucky supreme court justices on Tuesday sounded skeptical of the state’s abortion ban, one of the most restrictive in the U.S., during oral arguments in a case that will decide whether women have any access to the procedure in the foreseeable future.
EMW’s Women’s Surgical Center, an abortion clinic based in Louisville, has called on Kentucky’s high court to temporarily block a ban that does not make any exceptions for rape or incest. It does make an exception for when the mother’s life is in danger, though that determination is made by a physician.

The hearing before Kentucky’s high court comes after voters rejected an amendment during the midterm elections that said there is no right to an abortion under the state constitution.
The office of Kentucky’s Republican attorney general on Tuesday argued that the state constitution is neutral on abortion and regulating the procedure is a decision for the legislature. Matthew Kuhn, the state solicitor general, argued there is no historical evidence that the state constitution, adopted in 1891, includes a right to the procedure.
“When it comes to abortion, our constitution here in Kentucky is simply silent,” Kuhn argued. “And there is not a shred of historical evidence, none from this court’s case law and none from our constitutional debates, that suggests our constitution implicitly protects abortion,” Kuhn said.
Deputy Chief Justice Lisabeth Hughes countered that there were no women at the constitutional convention in 1890 and women at the time did not have the right to vote or even own property except in limited circumstances.
“I have some questions about the necessity of grounding our decision in 2022 on what occurred in 1890,” said Hughes, who described voters’ rejection of the anti-abortion constitutional amendment last week as the “purest form of democracy.”

Justice Michelle Keller, who once practiced as a registered nurse, said the state constitution protects the right to self-determination. Keller said the ban’s limited exceptions for when the patient’s life is in danger does not give the mother a role in making even that decision.
Instead, the physician on call makes that determination about whether an abortion is medically necessary and in many cases they do not know what is legal under the ban, Keller said. Doctors are wasting precious time consulting with hospital risk managers and lawyers to make sure they are performing an abortion covered by the ban’s exception, she said. Performing an abortion is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison in Kentucky.
“If there’s a man bleeding out in the ER, he has all the self-determination in the world, and most women do too, unless they’re in a state of pregnancy, and then suddenly there is no self-determination. And then the physician is trying to get ahold of the attorney general,” Keller said.
Justice Laurance VanMeter appeared to question the ban’s lack of exceptions for rape and incest. While some people view abortion as an acceptable form of birth control, he said, state courts have to deal with horrific crimes involving minors.
Kuhn, representing the state attorney general, said the legislature has not met since the ban went into effect and may include such exceptions in the future. But Chief Justice John Minton pointed out that the legislature did not pass an amendment earlier this year that would have provided those exceptions.
Kuhn said the court could issue an injunction that would allow abortion in cases of rape and incest but keep the rest of the ban in place.
Heather Gatnarek, an ACLU attorney representing the plaintiffs, said Kentucky’s abortion ban causes irreparable injury to the patients the state’s two abortion clinics serve by forcing them to remain pregnant against their will, subjecting them to physical and mental health risks.
It’s unclear how Kentucky’s seven-member supreme court will ultimately rule. If they do block the near-total ban while litigation continues in a lower court, a 15-week abortion ban that’s also on the books would remain in effect.

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