Lowe’s Beats Sales Estimates as Lockdowns Spur Home Improvement Spending

All Michigan Voters to Receive Absentee Ballot Applications

Millions of Michigan residents will receive applications in their mailboxes for absentee voting, state officials announced Tuesday. Michigan, a crucial swing state, has 7.7 million registered voters, 1.3 million of whom are on the permanent absentee ballot list. The applications will allow residents to take part in elections later this year without voting in person, state Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, said in a statement. “No Michigander has to choose between their health and their right to vote,” said Benson. “Voting by mail is easy, convenient, safe, and secure, and every voter in Michigan has the right to do it.” The application asks people if they’re a U.S. citizen and a qualified voter. Applicants can choose whether to receive an absentee ballot for the August 4 state election, the…

Lowe’s Cos Inc beat quarterly estimates for same-store sales on Wednesday, as the CCP virus lockdowns led people to spend more on tools and paint for home remodeling and repairs, sending shares of the home improvement chain up 8%.

More time on people’s hands due to shelter-in-place orders and CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus stimulus checks have allowed them to take up a variety of do-it-yourself house projects, such as small repairs, painting, and gardening, boosting sales for Lowe’s, as well as larger rival Home Depot Inc.

Lowe’s online sales surged 80% in the quarter, as customers flocked to its website since the company had to limit its operating hours and implement other social distancing measures at its stores to minimize the risk of the virus spreading.

Lowe’s Beats Sales Estimates as Lockdowns Spur Home Improvement Spending

The massive jump in sales also offset higher expenses to compensate employees running operations during the health crisis.

The company’s net earnings rose 27.8% to $1.34 billion, or $1.76 per share, in the first quarter ended May 1.

Excluding certain items, the company earned $1.77 per share, beating estimates of a profit of $1.32 per share, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Lowe’s same-store sales jumped 11.2%, while analysts were expecting only a 3.4% increase. HD reported a 6.4% rise in same-store sales, also beating estimates.

Lowe’s total net sales rose nearly 11% to $19.68 billion. It also scrapped its full-year outlook.

By Uday Sampath

Epoch Times staff contributed to this report.

Focus News: Lowe’s Beats Sales Estimates as Lockdowns Spur Home Improvement Spending

Chinese Mom Sentenced for Bribery After Paying $400,000 to Get Son Into UCLA

A woman who paid $400,000 to get her son into the University of California, Los Angeles as a fake soccer recruit was sentenced for bribery. Xiaoning Sui, 48, was ordered to pay a $250,000 fine for bribing her son’s way into UCLA, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts said Monday in a statement. She was also sentenced to time served for the five months she spent in a Spanish prison. Sui, a Chinese national living in Canada, was arrested in September 2019 in Spain by local authorities over mail fraud charges. She agreed to plead guilty in February to one count of federal programs bribery to prevent further detainment in the European country. Douglas P. Woodlock, the district judge presiding over the case, said Sui deserved the…