lowes inc low said wednesday it had net income of 154 million or 25 cents a share in the third quarter down from 1896 billion or 273 a share in the yearearlier period the net income figure includes a pretax noncash asset impairment charge of 21 billion related to the companys canadian retail business adjusted for that charge it had eps of 327 ahead of the 309 factset consensus sales rose to 235 billion from 229 billion a year ago also ahead of the 231 billion factset consensus samestore sales rose 3 while factset expected a 08 rise we delivered betterthanexpected results this quarter with us comps up 3 driven by pro growth of 19 and improved diy sales trends ceo marvin r ellison said in a statement sales on lowescom grew 12 on top of 25 growth last year the company raised its fullyear guidance to reflect the strongerthanexpected performance and now expects sales of about 97 billion to 98 billion and adjusted eps of 1365 to 1380 the factset consensus is for eps of 1353 and sales of 969 billion shares rose 39 premarket but are down 19 in the year to date while the sp 500 spx has fallen 16