LOW vs VLO Comparison

Lowe's is the second-largest home improvement retailer globally, with 1,761 stores in the US, after the 2023 divestiture of its Canadian locations. 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 (more than 60% of sales) and do-it-for-me customers, but has expanded its professional business clients to more than 30% from less than 20% in the past seven years (set to expand further with growth of FBM locations). 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.

Valero Energy is one of the largest independent refiners in the United States. It operates 15 refineries, with a total throughput capacity of 3.2 million barrels a day in the US, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Valero also owns 12 ethanol plants with capacity of 1.6 billion gallons a year and holds a 50% stake in Diamond Green Diesel, which can produce 1.2 billion gallons per year of renewable diesel.