Lowe’s Buys Foundation Building Materials For $8.8 Billion

Lowe’s Corp. (LOW) is buying professional homebuilding company Foundation Building Materials for $8.8 billion U.S.Foundation Building Materials is a distributor of drywall, insulation, and other interior building products for large residential and commercial real estate professionals.This is Lowe’s second acquisition of a professional homebuilding company in recent months.Like its rival Home Depot (HD), Lowe’s is trying to attract more business from contractors and professional homebuilders and lessen its reliance on consumer and homeowners. News of the Foundation Building Materials purchase was made alongside Lowe’s latest financial results.For the year’s second quarter, Lowe’s announced earnings per share of $4.33 U.S., which topped the $4.24 U.S. consensus expectation of analysts.Revenue in the period matched Wall Street’s expectations at $23.96 billion U.S. Lowe’s revised its full-year guidance to reflect its earlier acquisition of Artisan Design Group, a home professional company that it acquired in the spring. For the full year, Lowe’s now expects total sales of $84.5 billion U.S. to $85.5 billion U.S., an increase from its previous range of $83.5 billion U.S. to $84.5 billion U.S. Management reiterated their comparable sales, saying they will be flat to up 1% from the previous year. The company expects earnings per share for the entire year of $12.10 U.S. to $12.35 U.S., down slightly from a prior range of $12.15 U.S. to $12.40 U.S.LOW stock has risen 4% this year to trade at $256.36 U.S. per share.