Key takeaways: 

• Lowe's sales rose 5% in the fiscal fourth quarter, as Americans purchased, fixed, and renovated houses in a tight real estate market.
• The home advancement retailer increased its prediction for fiscal 2022, stating it now expects between $97 billion and $99 billion in sales.
• The firm said sales among home experts, a stabler and more lucrative client, increased 23% in the fourth quarter.

Lowe's sales increased by 5%: 

Lowe's on Wednesday topped quarterly profits anticipations and raised its projection for the year as Americans purchase, fix up, and renovate houses in a tight real estate market.

Shares climbed almost 2% in premarket trading, as the home improvement retailer told momentum carried into February.

Old houses, increasing real estate values, and generational trends are fueling the need for home projects. The nation's most significant generation, including millennials, has bought homes and boosted to bigger ones during the pandemic. That has devoured the supply of open houses and encouraged some to engage contractors to redo a bathroom, replace a roof or take on similar projects.

Those dynamics have lifted sales for Lowe's and competitor Home Depot.

Here's what Lowe's said for the quarter ended Jan. 28 compared with what Wall Street was hoping, based on a survey of critics by Refinitiv:

• Profits per share: $1.78 vs. $1.71 predicted
• Revenue: $21.34 billion vs. $20.90 billion predicted

In the fourth quarter, Lowe's net earnings increased to $1.21 billion, or $1.78 per share, from $978 million, or $1.32 per share, a year earlier. The outcomes were beyond the $1.71 predicted by critics surveyed by Refinitiv.

Sales ascended to $21.34 billion from $20.31 billion the previous year and outpaced analysts' anticipations of $20.90 billion.

Lowe's same-store sales in the U.S. grew 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Sales from pros increased 23% in the three months, too. The pros care to be stabler and more lucrative clients.