Lowe’s Companies (LOW), a home improvement retailer, is scheduled to report its fourth quarter earnings before the market open on Wednesday, February 24, with a conference call scheduled for 9:00 am ET.

EXPECTATIONS: Analysts are looking for earnings per share of 59c on revenue of $13.07B, according to First Call. The consensus range for EPS is 57c-63c on revenue of $12.86B-$13.22B.

LAST QUARTER: On November 18, Lowe’s reported third quarter EPS of 80c on revenue of $14.4B, beating analysts’ estimates of 78c and $14.31B, respectively. The company also said Q3 same-store sales rose 4.6% year-over-year. The company backed its fiscal year 2015 EPS view of about $3.29 against estimates at the time of $3.28 and said it still expects revenue to grow 4.5%-5%. Lowe’s also backed its FY15 SSS view of 4%-4.5% growth and added that it expected to open 15-20 home improvement and hardware stores in FY15. Lowe’s also backed its FY15 cash flow from operations view of $5B, capital expenditures of $1.3B and said it expected to repurchase $3.8B of stock in 2015. On its earnings conference call, Lowe’s said key drivers were “conducive” for home improvement industry growth through 2017.

NEWS: During the quarter, Lowe’s named Marci Grebstein as its Chief Marketing Officer and Jennifer Weber as Chief Human Resources Officer. In early February, Lowe’s announced plans to buy RONA in a deal valued at $2.3B. In a Fortune interview, Lowe’s CEO Robert Niblock commented on the acquisition saying that “We’re in a much different place than we were at in 2012. We understand why there may be some opposing views out there, and we’ll go through the process and the necessary conversations. But we feel we’re in a much better place.” Lowe’s previously pursued RONA in 2012.

STREET RESEARCH: Following its Q3 earnings report, Zelman upgraded Lowe’s to Buy from Hold. Atlantic Equities analyst Sam Hudson upgraded Lowe’s to Overweight from Neutral on November 24, citing a “compelling” growth outlook and the retailer’s operating margin expansion. After Lowe’s announced plans to buy RONA, Baird analyst Peter Benedict acknowledged he’d prefer that Lowe’s focus on its U.S. business and spend the $2.3B it plans to use to acquire Canada’s RONA on dividends and buybacks, but also noted that the deal is expected to be accretive to earnings in the first year following closing and that RONA has made operating improvements since Lowe’s last tried to buy it three years ago.