Home improvement retailer Lowe’s (LOW) reported quarterly earnings this morning and blew away numbers. EPS came in at $1.77 versus a consensus estimate of $1.32, while revenues came in at $19.675 billion versus a consensus estimate of $18.28 billion. In pre-market trading, LOW is up 5.7%, and shares are within $3 of all-time highs that were made on February 20th (one day after the S&P 500 peaked).

The price chart of Lowe’s is one to behold, and it really makes you wonder how “the market” could have gotten it so wrong. Prior to the stock’s collapse at the height of the COVID scare, it had been in a strong, long-term uptrend. LOW last reported earnings on February 26th, just a few trading days after its last all-time high was made.  In between today’s earnings report and its last earnings report three months ago, the stock experienced a 48% decline — essentially cut in half — followed by a 90% rally. During its 48% rout in less than a month, investors certainly weren’t thinking that LOW would turn out to be a huge winner from the COVID lockdowns. But just as quickly as it declined, the stock surged back as more investors realized that lockdowns and stay at home orders meant consumers would use the period to do all the things around the house that had been put off over the years. It also helped that most residential construction projects were not put on hold throughout the lockdowns, and that home improvement was one of the few “lucky” areas in retail that was deemed “essential.”