The closing of nine Rona stores in Quebec has caused a lot of ink to flow lately. Signal of low interest for Quebec? No more, no less than elsewhere. Business decision, which may, however, signal that something is afoot at Lowe's.
The restructuring announced in early November comes as Marvin Ellison took over the helm of the American company a few months ago. The former boss of JC Penney (and above all responsible for Home Depot's American stores between 2002 and 2014) completely overhauled Lowe's management structure with the aim of making the hardware store more efficient, both in terms of costs and sales.
News of the restructuring comes as the company's stock is down nearly 25% from its September peak, and back to the same level as a year ago.
Hence the question in the title as to a possible investment opportunity.
The impact of closures
Let's look first at the impact of the restructuring on Lowe's profitability.
The company is closing 51 locations in North America: 20 in the United States and 27 in Canada. As a percentage of stores, it's about 1% of US stores and 10% of Canadian stores. In terms of floor area, we are talking about 1.5% and 3% respectively.
The aim is essentially to close what is not profitable or what is not very profitable in an attempt to direct sales to other existing establishments and increase their profitability.
Telsey Advisory Group estimates that the impact of the restructuring should make it possible to eliminate the losses of a certain number of establishments, losses which it estimates at 34 million dollars or the equivalent of 0.03 $ per share. The house hardly believes in a significant gain in sales thanks to the closures, competitors often having closer establishments. But UBS sees one and believes the deal will ultimately (after severance and liquidations pass) add US$0.07 to earnings per share.
Regardless of the scenario, one will find that this is not a major restructuring, as management's earnings outlook for 2018 (excluding extraordinary charges) is around US$5.10-5.20 per share. .
We would not rule out other potential closures in the future, but, given the relative marginality of the gains obtained by this first movement (which is generally the easiest), something tells us that the next savings will undoubtedly be sought elsewhere. Suppliers, sharpen your pencils... Eyes are mostly on cycle and rates. If the title is under pressure in recent weeks, it is mainly due to fears about the current economic cycle and rising interest rates.
Does the market see the end of the cycle prematurely? This is the question recently asked by the team of analyst Brian Nagel, from Oppenheimer. She thinks so.
Oppenheimer first notes that housing market data is mixed, but still strong. Sales of existing homes rose 1.4% from September to October, but are down 5.1% from a year ago.
In contrast, sales of new homes have only retreated for two months since the start of the year. Home prices also continue to climb, up 6% at mid-year, according to the semi-annual S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index.
Consumer confidence is also at an all-time high among members of the National Association of Home Builders.
Secondly, argues Oppenheimer, this is not the first time that interest rate hikes have raised questions, but their impact is not necessarily harmful.
Between June 1994 and June 1995, the Fed's key rate rose from 3% to 6%. The stock had fallen 2% over the period. Between May 1999 and December 2000, the key rate had risen from 4.75% to 6.50%. This time there was some shock, the title dropping 14%. Between May 2004 and August 2007, the rates rose from 1% to 5.25%. Over the period the title of Lowe's had taken 16%.
The above, argues Mr. Nagel, rather tends to show that securities tend to perform well even if the interest rate environment is bullish. He specifies that it is only at the end of an upward cycle that hardware stocks tend to fall.