Lowe's Companies, Inc. (LOW)

Picture a DIY retail giant that suddenly spends more than USD10 billion in under a year buying two companies that have nothing to do with the paint aisles and hammers you'd expect from Lowe's stores — instead, pure B2B building-materials distribution businesses. That is the real story behind Lowe's Companies (LOW) in 2025-2026: the company is changing its identity from a 'DIY home-improvement retailer' into a 'Total Home' ecosystem chasing a USD250 billion professional contractor (Pro) market.

In June 2025, Lowe's completed the USD1.3 billion acquisition of Artisan Design Group (ADG) — a design, distribution and installation business for interior finishes (flooring, cabinets, countertops) serving homebuilders and property managers. Four months later, in October 2025, it closed a far larger deal: the roughly USD8.8 billion acquisition of Foundation Building Materials (FBM) — a distributor of drywall, metal framing, ceiling systems, commercial doors and insulation with more than 370 locations across the US and Canada.

Why do this? Because Lowe's is following the same playbook as its larger rival, Home Depot (HD), which made a similar move in 2024 when it acquired SRS Distribution. The logic is straightforward: Pro/contractor customers are typically stickier, buy in larger volumes, and carry higher margins than occasional DIY shoppers. By combining its existing retail footprint with interior-finishes distribution (ADG) and building-materials distribution (FBM), Lowe's is trying to build a vertically-integrated supply chain to capture a bigger share of that USD250 billion Pro market.

Operationally, Lowe's still runs more than 1,700 retail stores across the US, now backed by two new B2B distribution arms. Leadership is led by Marvin R. Ellison, who has served as President and Chief Executive Officer since July 2018 and was also named Chairman of the Board in 2021 — giving him nearly 8 years steering the company, including the recent back-to-back ADG and FBM acquisitions.

⚠️ Shariah status: Per the zoya US stock reference list, LOW is flagged as NON-COMPLIANT (NON_COMPLIANT). This is driven primarily by elevated interest-bearing debt levels — including the USD9.0 billion bridge loan used to finance the FBM acquisition, which pushed the company's leverage ratio up to 3.4x-3.5x. This is purely a financial-ratio compliance flag, not a moral judgment on Lowe's business — but it does mean the stock is not suitable for investors prioritizing a Shariah-compliant portfolio.

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