Well, well, well it seems like the weather is finally on our side for once! Analyst Zachary Fadem has noted that after a not-so-hot February and March, April is off to a fiery start! And by fiery, we mean above-average temperatures. According to Fadem, this could mean an earlier spring for all of us! He even went so far as to overlay weather data against LOW’s pre-pandemic comps and found that in years with above average temperatures, first-quarter comps tend to be ~200bps higher. Who would have thought weather could impact sales so much?

So, what does this mean for the retail world? Well, it means that Lowe’s could be in for a “sneaky” long run. Not a quick flirt, no. A long-lasting love affair. One that you never expected but somehow just works. Lowe’s year-to-date performance has been like climbing a mountain, but with the early signs of spring and its ties to lawn and garden sales (roughly 20% of first-quarter sales, to be exact), Lowe’s could start rolling in some dough. And who doesn’t love dough?

Not a fan of Lowe’s? No problem! Home Depot is also in the game. But don’t be fooled, they don’t have quite as much of their sales tied to the sweet, sweet plants and flowers we all crave this time of year. In fact, Home Depot only has high teens in comparison to Lowe’s 20%. So, if you’re a plant parent like me, you know where you’ll be heading for all your gardening needs.

And if you think Lowe’s is already performing well, get ready for this. April traffic to date is already up 3.7 percentage points from the last week in March. Does that mean people are finally coming out of their quarantine caves and realizing the walls could use a new coat of paint? Or maybe they’re just excited to get their hands on some new gardening tools. Regardless, Home Depot may be up 2 percentage points, but Lowe’s is up more than 1% year-to-date. Slow and steady wins the race, my friends.

Serious News: cnbc