UPDATE: Lowe's Posts Rise In Q4 Profit

Lowe's Companies LOW reported a 6.3% gain in its fiscal fourth-quarter profit and announced an additional $5 billion stock buyback program. For the new fiscal year, the company projects earnings of $2.60 per share, versus analysts' estimates of $2.64 per share. It also projects total sales to rise 5% for the same period. Lowe's posted a quarterly profit of $306 million, or $0.29 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $288 million, or $0.26 per share. Excluding special items, it earned $0.31 per share. Its net sales climbed 5.6% to $11.66 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.31 per share on sales of $11.67 billion. Lowe's gross margin widened to 34.7% from 34.3%. Lowe's shares surged 9.91% to $51.90 in pre-market trading.