LOW vs HCA Comparison

Lowe's is the second-largest home improvement retailer globally, with around 1,750 stores in the US, after the 2023 divestiture of its Canadian locations (RONA, Lowe's Canada, Réno-Dépôt, and Dick's Lumber). The firm's stores offer products and services for home decorating, maintenance, repair, and remodeling, with maintenance and repair accounting for two-thirds of products sold. Lowe's primarily targets retail do-it-yourself (around 70% of sales) and do-it-for-me customers, but has expanded its professional business clients to 30% from less than 20% in the past six years (set ot expand further with the acquisition of FBM). We estimate Lowe's captures a high-single-digit share of the domestic home improvement market, based on US Census data and management's market size estimates.

HCA Healthcare is a Nashville-based healthcare provider organization operating the largest collection of acute-care hospitals in the United States. As of December 2024, the firm owned and operated 190 hospitals, 124 freestanding outpatient surgery centers, and a broad network of physician offices, urgent-care clinics, and freestanding emergency rooms across 20 states and a small foothold in England.