Lowe’s Cos. Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Price to Earnings (P/E) Ratio

The Price to Earnings ratio displays notable fluctuations across the observed periods, beginning at 21.16 and peaking around 22.51 in early 2025. An initial decline is evident between early 2022 and late 2022, where the ratio drops to approximately 14.78. This suggests a temporary decrease in market valuation relative to earnings during that interval. Following this dip, the ratio generally rises again, oscillating between 15 and 22, indicating renewed investor confidence or earnings volatility up to late 2025.

Price to Operating Profit (P/OP) Ratio

The Price to Operating Profit ratio also demonstrates variability but within a narrower range compared to the P/E ratio. Starting from 14.04 in early 2020, the ratio declines to a low of approximately 9.93 by late 2023, signaling a period where the stock price did not increase proportionally with operating profits. Subsequently, the ratio experiences an upward trend, reaching close to 14.94 by early 2025. This indicates fluctuating market pricing in relation to operating profit performance during the timeframe.

Price to Sales (P/S) Ratio

The Price to Sales ratio shows moderate variation over time, beginning at 1.31 and rising to a peak of about 1.84 in late 2024. There is a noticeable drop in mid-2023 to approximately 1.17, suggesting a temporary reduction in valuation relative to sales. However, the upward trend after this point reflects strengthened market valuation against sales revenue through early 2025, reaching 1.61 by the last observed date.

Price to Book Value (P/BV) Ratio

The Price to Book Value ratio exhibits extreme volatility in the initial periods, ranging dramatically from 27.86 up to an exceptional high of 307.81. This suggests significant market revaluation of book value or potentially one-off events affecting book value components early in the series. However, data beyond early 2021 is missing, preventing further trend analysis for this ratio over the latter periods.

Share Price Trends

The share price exhibited an overall upward trend from May 2020 through November 2024, with some fluctuations. Starting at $128.12 in May 2020, the price reached a peak of $254 in February 2024, indicating substantial growth. However, intermittent declines were observed, notably after October 2021 when the share price dropped from $252.63 to $195.53 by April 2022. Following this dip, the share price showed recovery and further increases, achieving new highs towards the end of the observed period. The trend suggests positive market confidence with periods of volatility likely influenced by external or internal factors.

Earnings per Share (EPS) Trends

EPS displayed consistent growth from May 2020 ($6.06) to April 2022 ($13.23), more than doubling in this timeframe. Following this peak, a moderate decline occurred through early 2023, with EPS dropping to approximately 10.47 in August 2023. Thereafter, earnings stabilized and exhibited modest fluctuations around the 12-range, ending at $12.08 in October 2025. This pattern indicates a strong earnings performance during 2020-2022, followed by a period of earnings softening and subsequent stabilization.

Price-to-Earnings (P/E) Ratio Analysis

The P/E ratio began at 21.16 in May 2020 and remained relatively stable with values mostly between 20 and 22 until late 2021. From early 2022, a dip to a low of 14.78 in April 2022 was observed, coinciding with the decline in share price and growth level of earnings. Subsequently, the ratio showed considerable variability, oscillating between approximately 15 and 22 through 2024 and into 2025. Notable reductions in P/E at points of elevated EPS imply valuation adjustments possibly reflecting market reassessment of growth prospects or risk factors.

Overall Insights

The analyzed financial metrics reflect a period of strong growth in earnings through early 2022, supporting substantial share price appreciation. The subsequent correction period, with a decrease in both share price and EPS, suggests a moderation in growth expectations or external pressures impacting financial performance. The P/E ratio fluctuations during this time highlight shifts in investor sentiment and valuation. The later stages show signs of recovery and stabilization in both earnings and market valuation, pointing toward a more consolidated financial status. This mixed pattern underscores the importance of monitoring both earnings performance and market valuation metrics for a comprehensive assessment of financial health.

The financial data reveals several notable trends concerning share price, operating profit per share, and the price-to-operating-profit (P/OP) ratio over the observed periods.

Share Price

The share price demonstrated considerable volatility with a general upward trajectory from early 2020 through late 2024. Initially priced at $128.12 in May 2020, the share price increased sharply, peaking at $273.19 in November 2024. Intermittent fluctuations were observed, with notable dips such as declining from $252.63 in October 2021 to $195.53 in April 2022, followed by recovery phases, indicating sensitivity to market conditions or company-specific events. Overall, the elevated price points toward strong investor confidence and possibly robust performance expectations.

Operating Profit Per Share (OPPS)

Operating profit per share showed a consistent upward trend during the period under review. Starting from $9.12 in May 2020, it rose steadily to a peak of $20.2 in February 2024. After this peak, the OPPS experienced a mild decline but remained relatively stable around the $18-$20 range subsequently. This pattern indicates effective operational performance improvements, enhanced cost management, or increased revenue generation capabilities. The plateau and marginal decline in the later periods may suggest market saturation or rising operational challenges.

Price-to-Operating-Profit Ratio (P/OP)

The P/OP ratio presented fluctuating movements throughout the timeframe, reflecting changing market valuations relative to operating profitability. Initially, it was at 14.04 in May 2020, followed by a general decline reaching as low as 9.93 in November 2023, demonstrating periods where the share price may have been undervalued relative to profits. Subsequently, the ratio rebounded to approximately 13-14 by late 2024. This fluctuation could indicate varying investor sentiment, shifts in growth expectations, or external economic factors affecting valuation multiples.

Share Price Trend

The share price displayed a generally upward trend from May 2020 through early 2022, with fluctuations. Starting at $128.12, it peaked at $252.63 in October 2021 before decreasing to approximately $190 by February 2023. Subsequently, the price showed recovery and growth, reaching above $270 by November 2024 before experiencing a slight decline toward the end of the period. This volatility indicates periods of both strong investor confidence and some corrections.

Sales Per Share Progression

Sales per share steadily increased from $98.12 in May 2020 to about $162.75 by February 2023, demonstrating consistent sales growth. However, after this point, sales per share showed a mild declining trend to a low of around $148.11 by August 2024, followed by stabilization and a slight improvement reaching $150.20 by October 2025. This suggests some challenges in maintaining the previous growth momentum but a level of resistance against further decline.

Price-to-Sales (P/S) Ratio Analysis

The P/S ratio was relatively volatile throughout the period. It started at 1.31 in May 2020, climbed to a high of 1.79 in October 2021, then dropped to a low of 1.17 by February 2023. After this trough, the ratio showed a recovery trend, increasing to 1.84 by November 2024, indicating increasing market valuation relative to sales before easing somewhat toward 1.61 in late 2025. The fluctuations in P/S ratio reflect changing market sentiment and valuation assumptions during different phases of the company's financial performance.

Overall Insight

The data reveals a growth phase in both share price and sales up to late 2021, followed by a correction and stabilization phase into early 2023. Post-correction, the share price and valuation metrics recovered stronger than sales per share, suggesting possibly higher investor confidence or expectations relative to actual sales performance. The mild decline and stabilization in sales per share in the later periods indicate challenges in maintaining growth but not a significant downturn. The P/S ratio demonstrates sensitive market reactions to changes in sales and share price, signaling variable investor sentiment over time.

Share Price Trends

The share price experienced significant volatility over the observed periods. Starting at $128.12, it increased sharply to peak values above $250 in multiple instances, including October 2021 ($252.63) and February 2024 ($254). There were intermittent declines and recoveries, with prices ranging from a low near $190 to highs exceeding $270 by late 2024. Overall, the price shows an upward trend with notable fluctuations suggestive of market sensitivity to company or sector-specific developments.

Book Value Per Share (BVPS) Trends

BVPS demonstrated a consistent downward trajectory across the time frame. Beginning at $2.27, it showed some initial improvements, reaching $5.76 by July 2020, but then steadily declined into negative territory starting April 2021. The negative trend intensified, reaching values as low as approximately -$26 in late 2023 and maintaining substantial negative levels subsequently, although marginally improving toward the final periods to about -$18 by October 2025. This persistent negative BVPS suggests ongoing reductions in net asset value on a per-share basis.

Price-to-Book Value Ratio (P/BV) Analysis

The P/BV ratio was extraordinarily high during the initial periods, peaking at over 300 in April 2021, corresponding to a very low or negative book value. After January 2021, data for the P/BV ratio appears to be missing or not calculated, which may relate to the book value shifting to negative figures, making conventional P/BV calculation non-meaningful. The initial extremely high ratios reflect a market valuation much higher than the underlying book value, indicating potentially high investor expectations despite deteriorating net asset values.

Overall Financial Observations

The divergence between the rising share price and the declining book value per share suggests that market valuation is decoupled from the company’s net asset base as measured traditionally. Such decoupling can imply investor confidence driven by factors other than net assets, such as earnings potential, brand strength, market position, or external economic conditions. The sustained negative book value per share warrants attention as it may indicate accumulated losses, asset impairments, or other equity reductions that could affect long-term financial health despite positive market sentiment reflected in share prices.