A housing market recovery will benefit home improvement retailer Lowe’s (LOW) more than competitor Home Depot (HD), according to Mizuho Americas director David Bellinger.
The reason lies in Lowe’s increased exposure to DIY home improvement.
“What we like here most, especially for Lowe’s, is that they’ve got this bigger do it yourself piece of the business. It’s about 75% of sales,” Bellinger told Yahoo Finance Live on Wednesday. “Home Depot’s at about 50% and we think that gives Lowe’s better leverage to any early turns in existing home sales.”
The housing market has mostly been at a standstill as buyers and sellers alike stay on the sidelines amid high mortgage rates. The Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates this year, effectively lowering the cost of borrowing.
Lowe’s comparable sales in the most recent quarter slipped 6.2% amid a pullback in home improvement spending. Mizuho expects comparable sales to turn positive toward the back half of this year.
Lowe’s exposure to categories like paint and outdoor seasonal appliances could give “a bit of a leg up,” he said, as homeowners typically spend more during the first few years of owning a home.
Meanwhile, the housing stock is aging, with about 50% of homes aged 40 or older, Bellinger noted. This could be a boon for the home improvement industry as a whole.
“These homes tend to be leaky buckets. There’s always some kind of maintenance activity you have to put in place,” Bellinger said. “We do see a potential for this sort of renovation renaissance or renovation boom coming over the next several decades, and Home Depot and Lowe’s, they’re positioning their businesses for this.”
