Lowe’s Shares Pop After CEO Announces Departure

Shares of struggling home improvement stock saw big gains on Monday after its CEO Robert Niblock announced that he would be retiring.

Shares saw gains as high as almost 8% during intra-day trading after the announcement. He has been at the company for over twenty years and will be leaving as soon as Lowe’s finds someone to take his place.

“After a 25-year career at Lowe’s, including 13 years as chairman and CEO, I am confident that it is the right time to transition the company to its next generation of leadership,” said Niblock.

Lowe’s has faced backlash for its struggle of being behind rival Home Depot. It was earlier in January that D.E. Shaw & Co., an activist investor, took a stake in the company and said they were concerned about Lowe’s performance next to competition.

“We are optimistic that the company will attract a new, top notch talent to run the chain and that the whole of LOW will benefit from a ‘fresh set of eyes’ within its senior ranks,” remarked Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Brian Nagel.

Since the year started, Lowe’s shares are already down around 10%.

Home Depot also saw gains on the news of Niblock’s departure.

Disclaimer: We have no position in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW) and Home Depot Inc (NYSE: HD) and have not been compensated for this article.