1 Reason Lowe's May Be a Smarter Buy Than Home Depot Before Aug. 19

2 weeks ago 9

Neil Patel, The Motley Fool

Mon, August 10, 2026 astatine 5:50 AM CDT 3 min read

The location betterment manufacture has been nether unit successful caller years. Macroeconomic headwinds, astir notably elevated involvement rates and above-normal inflation, person wounded request for the 2 largest players, Home Depot (NYSE: HD) and Lowe's (NYSE: LOW).

And these 2 retail stocks person underperformed the market. Home Depot shares are up 8% successful the past 3 years (as of Aug. 7), portion Lowe's shares person fallen 1%. Investors deciding betwixt these 2 should absorption connected 1 cardinal information point.

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Here's 1 crushed Lowe's whitethorn beryllium a smarter bargain than Home Depot earlier Aug. 19.

Contractor moving   connected  a renovation project.

Image source: Getty Images.

A caller fiscal update is connected platform

Lowe's is acceptable to study fiscal results for its fiscal 2026 2nd 4th connected Aug. 19. Besides the evident gross and nett figures, investors should wage attraction to immoderate important information.

Same-store income accrued 0.6% successful Q1. It volition beryllium highly encouraging to spot this fig turn successful the latest fiscal quarter, arsenic it measures the show of locations unfastened astatine slightest 13 months.

Trends for some do-it-yourself and nonrecreational lawsuit cohorts volition beryllium insightful. The enactment squad continues to expect pro request to outpace DIY.

Lowe's acquired Foundation Building Materials past October and Artisan Design Group successful June 2025. Any commentary that absorption provides connected outgo synergies and integration advancement volition beryllium valuable. This volition bespeak if these important billion-dollar superior allocation decisions are bearing fruit.

Valuation matters

Of course, investors shouldn't bargain Lowe's banal to front-run the fiscal merchandise connected Aug. 19. This benignant of urgency promotes short-term thinking. In the expansive strategy of things, a azygous quarter's numbers person minimal power connected wide valuation.

The champion mentality is 1 that supports semipermanent ownership of businesses. This is the close doctrine to have. It allows compounding to work.

That being said, Lowe's is simply a amended banal to bargain close present implicit Home Depot for 1 elemental reason: it's cheaper. The erstwhile trades astatine a guardant price-to-earnings ratio of 16.5, portion the second tin beryllium bought astatine a 22.3 multiple. This means that the marketplace is offering Lowe's astatine a 26% discount to its larger rival. That's a notable disparity erstwhile their concern models are astir identical.

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