Balance Sheet: Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity

The balance sheet provides creditors, investors, and analysts with information on company resources (assets) and its sources of capital (its equity and liabilities). It normally also provides information about the future earnings capacity of a company assets as well as an indication of cash flows that may come from receivables and inventories.

Liabilities represents obligations of a company arising from past events, the settlement of which is expected to result in an outflow of economic benefits from the entity.

Lowe’s Cos. Inc., consolidated balance sheet: liabilities and stockholders’ equity

US$ in millions

	Jan 30, 2026	Jan 31, 2025	Feb 2, 2024	Feb 3, 2023	Jan 28, 2022	Jan 29, 2021
Short-term borrowings	—)	—)	—)	499)	—)	—)
Current maturities of long-term debt	2,431)	2,586)	537)	585)	868)	1,112)
Current operating lease liabilities	713)	563)	487)	522)	636)	541)
Accounts payable	9,762)	9,290)	8,704)	10,524)	11,354)	10,884)
Accrued compensation and employee benefits	1,285)	1,008)	954)	1,109)	1,561)	1,350)
Deferred revenue	1,477)	1,358)	1,408)	1,603)	1,914)	1,608)
Accrued dividends	673)	645)	633)	633)	537)	440)
Accrued interest	485)	449)	456)	441)	275)	250)
Self-insurance liabilities	426)	432)	431)	424)	440)	435)
Sales tax liabilities	245)	195)	164)	314)	228)	256)
Sales return reserve	178)	167)	191)	234)	245)	252)
Accrued property taxes	153)	138)	130)	119)	124)	120)
Income taxes payable	23)	491)	33)	1,181)	128)	168)
Other	1,612)	1,435)	1,440)	1,323)	1,358)	1,314)
Other current liabilities	3,795)	3,952)	3,478)	4,669)	3,335)	3,235)
Current liabilities	19,463)	18,757)	15,568)	19,511)	19,668)	18,730)
Long-term debt, excluding current maturities	37,490)	32,901)	35,384)	32,876)	23,859)	20,668)
Noncurrent operating lease liabilities	4,043)	3,628)	3,737)	3,512)	4,021)	3,890)
Deferred income taxes, net	1,039)	—)	—)	—)	—)	—)
Deferred revenue, Lowe’s protection plans	1,262)	1,268)	1,225)	1,201)	1,127)	1,019)
Other liabilities	764)	779)	931)	862)	781)	991)
Noncurrent liabilities	44,598)	38,576)	41,277)	38,451)	29,788)	26,568)
Total liabilities	64,061)	57,333)	56,845)	57,962)	49,456)	45,298)
Preferred stock, $5 par value, issued and outstanding: none	—)	—)	—)	—)	—)	—)
Common stock, $.50 par value	281)	280)	287)	301)	335)	366)
Capital in excess of par value	370)	—)	—)	—)	—)	90)
Retained earnings (accumulated deficit)	(10,839)	(14,799)	(15,637)	(14,862)	(5,115)	1,117)
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)	271)	288)	300)	307)	(36)	(136)
Shareholders’ equity (deficit)	(9,917)	(14,231)	(15,050)	(14,254)	(4,816)	1,437)
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity (deficit)	54,144)	43,102)	41,795)	43,708)	44,640)	46,735)

Based on: 10-K (reporting date: 2026-01-30), 10-K (reporting date: 2025-01-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2024-02-02), 10-K (reporting date: 2023-02-03), 10-K (reporting date: 2022-01-28), 10-K (reporting date: 2021-01-29).

Overall, the liabilities of the company demonstrate a generally increasing trend over the observed period, with a notable peak in 2023 before a slight decrease in 2024, followed by another increase projected through 2026. Stockholders’ equity, conversely, experiences a significant decline, transitioning from a positive value to a substantial deficit. This shift warrants further investigation into the factors driving the company’s profitability and financial health.

Current Liabilities: Current liabilities fluctuated between approximately US$18.7 billion and US$19.7 billion from 2021 to 2023, then decreased significantly to US$15.6 billion in 2024. A subsequent increase to US$18.8 billion in 2025 is observed, with a further rise projected to US$19.5 billion in 2026. Within current liabilities, accounts payable decreased from US$10.9 billion in 2021 to US$8.7 billion in 2024, before increasing to US$9.3 billion in 2025 and US$9.8 billion in 2026. Income taxes payable experienced a dramatic increase in 2023 to US$1.2 billion, falling sharply to US$33 million in 2024, then increasing to US$491 million in 2025 and US$23 million in 2026. Current maturities of long-term debt generally decreased from US$1.1 billion in 2021 to US$537 million in 2024, with a substantial increase projected to US$2.6 billion in 2025 and US$2.4 billion in 2026.
Noncurrent Liabilities: Noncurrent liabilities consistently increased from US$26.6 billion in 2021 to US$44.6 billion in 2026. Long-term debt, excluding current maturities, contributed significantly to this increase, rising from US$20.7 billion to US$37.5 billion over the same period. Noncurrent operating lease liabilities remained relatively stable, fluctuating between US$3.5 billion and US$4.0 billion. Deferred income taxes, net, were not reported for the earlier years but reached US$1.0 billion in 2026.
Total Liabilities: Total liabilities increased from US$45.3 billion in 2021 to US$64.1 billion in 2026, reflecting the combined trends in current and noncurrent liabilities. The largest increase occurred between 2022 and 2023, moving from US$49.5 billion to US$58.0 billion. A slight decrease was observed in 2024, but the upward trend resumed in subsequent years.
Stockholders’ Equity: Stockholders’ equity experienced a substantial decline, transitioning from a positive value of US$1.4 billion in 2021 to a deficit of US$9.9 billion in 2026. Retained earnings were the primary driver of this decline, moving from a positive US$1.1 billion in 2021 to a negative US$10.8 billion in 2026. Common stock remained relatively stable, while capital in excess of par value showed an increase in 2026. Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) remained relatively stable, fluctuating around zero.
Total Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity: The combined effect of increasing liabilities and decreasing equity resulted in a shift from a positive value of US$46.7 billion in 2021 to a positive value of US$54.1 billion in 2026. This indicates a growing reliance on debt financing and a weakening equity position.

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Lowe’s Cos. Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Balance Sheet: Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity