In the latest trading session, Lowe's (LOW) closed at $273.27, marking a +1.76% move from the previous day. The stock's performance was ahead of the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.97%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.3%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1.45%.

The the stock of home improvement retailer has risen by 9.73% in the past month, leading the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 7.36% and the S&P 500's gain of 5.41%.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Lowe's in its upcoming release. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $2.80, reflecting an 8.5% decrease from the same quarter last year. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $19.85 billion, indicating a 3.03% decline compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.

In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $11.91 per share and a revenue of $82.91 billion, indicating changes of -9.77% and -4.01%, respectively, from the former year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Lowe's should also be noted by investors. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed a 0.13% decrease. Right now, Lowe's possesses a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In the context of valuation, Lowe's is at present trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 22.54. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 20.07, which means Lowe's is trading at a premium to the group.

We can also see that LOW currently has a PEG ratio of 2.21. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. The Building Products - Retail industry had an average PEG ratio of 3.33 as trading concluded yesterday.

The Building Products - Retail industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 212, placing it within the bottom 16% of over 250 industries.