next year is expected to be an investment year for lowes cos with continued share gains according to an analyst note after the home improvement retailer outlined its financial outlook lowes on wednesday forecast 2022 total sales of 94 billion to 97 billion below the factset consensus for 976 billion with 2022 comparable sales seen ranging from a decline of 3 to flat the factset consensus was for an increase of 17 lowes said it expects 2022 earnings per share of 1225 to 13 the factset consensus was expecting eps of 1281 and adjusted eps of 1294 the sales outlook likely disappointed investors and includes a more subdued market outlook with sector demand forecasted to decline midsingle digits  suggesting further market share gains for lowes raymond james said in an analyst note however overall macro factors remain supportive for the home improvement industry with historical levels of home price appreciation favorable housing turnover higher than historical household formation and longterm support from the age of housing stock raymond james said that lowes currently has about an 11 market share of a 900 billion total addressable market and the retailer reiterated several initiatives for further consolidation the overarching message of todays event was that low sees an opportunity to drive continued market share gains across pro and diy and has levers to pull to expand operating margin even in a negative comp environment with a powerful capital allocation philosophy jp morgan said in an analyst note chief executive marvin r ellison outlined the companys strategy for growing market share during the retailers conference call our lowes total home strategy has enabled us to accelerate our market share gains as we focus on five key growth areas of the business intensifying our focus on the pro accelerating and modernizing our online business expanding installation services driving localization and elevating our product assortment mr ellison said in the call lowes forecast that its sales performance will continue to outperform the market by about 300 to 400 basis points as it plans for continued gains in market share chief financial officer david m denton said during the conference call we are reaffirming the 2021 financial outlook that we provided on our third quarter conference call and im pleased to report that our quartertodate performance is tracking slightly ahead of our guidance morgan stanley said in a note that lowes comparable sales guidance could prove conservative as home improvement demand has consistently surprised to the upside in 2021 and us housing fundamentals remain solid few if any companies in our coverage will be able to deliver margin expansion next year that low is guiding to margin expansion in 22 highlights its confidence in the structural elements dynamic pricing tools localized assortment productivity measures of its transformation morgan stanley said morgan stanley also pointed to lowes being one of the first companies in its coverage to provide an outlook for 22 relative to other names in our sector whose salesebiteps are likely to decline in 22 lows guide will likely prove among the strongest morgan stanley said wedbush said that with a less sanguine sector outlook for 2022 it remains neutral on home improvement retail and continues to prefer home depot over lowes given its higher exposure to the pro segment after only growing in line with this market in 2021 lows path to these share gains that are primarily through profocused initiatives is not a given wedbush said in an analyst note wells fargo said that despite guidance below its model it views the lowes update with a bullish lens noting that the fiscal 2022 bar appears achievable and beatable and margin expansion is likely to continue with or without topline growth in fy22 we understand the cautious approach as the company laps stimulus and inflationdriven gains while the industry could experience some giveback following a twoyear boom wells fargo said the analysts say they see ample external and internal drivers for comps and believe lowes is setting the stage for beat and raise potential through 2022 shares were down 15 to 25370 in thursday afternoon trading the stock closed up 5 wednesday