Before markets opened on Wednesday, Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW), the country’s second largest home improvement store chain, reported third-quarter diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.47, up from $0.35 in the third quarter a year ago and a penny short of the consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters of $0.48. Sales rose from $12.07 billion a year ago to $12.96 billion, again higher than the consensus estimate of $12.72 billion. Same-store sales rose 6.2% in the quarter.

Lowe’s raised its full-year revenue guidance, now expecting that sales will be 6% higher than in 2012, which implies revenues of $53.55 billion, above the current consensus analysts’ estimate of $53.1 billion. Same-store sales are forecast to rise 5% year-over-year, and EBIT is now expected to rise by 75 basis points. The company estimated diluted EPS would come in at about $2.15, up from its August estimate of $2.10 but below the consensus estimate of $2.19.

Lowe’s had been making up ground on rival Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) for the past few quarters, but these results put an end to that. Home Depot reported a quarterly net earnings increase of about 43% on Tuesday, compared with Lowe’s 26% gain. Home Depot was able to beat both EPS and revenue estimates, and the company raised its outlook for EPS above the consensus estimate.

The numbers that Lowe’s reported look good: revenues topped estimates and were up more than 7%, cost of sales was lower on a percentage basis, the gross margin was slightly higher, SG&A spending was down and pretax earnings were up.

It is the outlook that will sink the stock price today. The full-year outlook implies fourth-quarter EPS of $0.31, short of the consensus estimate of $0.33. Whether or not Lowe’s stands to get a bump from the rebuilding following last week’s killer storms in the Midwest will not make much difference in how the stock trades Wednesday.

Shares of Lowe’s were down nearly 4% in premarket trading Wednesday morning, at $48.51 in a 52-week range of $34.05 to $52.08. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analyst price target of around $51.10 before the results were announced.

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