“We continue to expect gross margin rate to be up slightly as compared to the prior year.”

In context

“ventory ended the quarter at $19.3 billion, up $2 billion or 11.6% from Q2 last year driven by product cost inflation of 15%, while units were down low single digits. This morning, we are affirming our full year 2022 financial outlook. We now expect that our 2022 sales will be near the bottom of our range of approximately $97 billion to $99 billion for the year, representing comparable sales towards the bottom end of the range of down 1% to up 1% for the year. This reflects our first half results and our second half expectations of continued Pro momentum and improving DIY sales trends. We continue to expect Pro to outperform DIY for the remainder of the year. As a reminder, our 2022 sales outlook includes a 53rd week, which equates to approximately $1 billion to $1.5 billion in sales. We continue to expect gross margin rate to be up slightly as compared to the prior year. Given our better-than-expected flow-through in the first half, we now expect operating margin to be at the top end of our range of 12.8% to 13% for the full year. Our ability to lever gross margin and SG&A despite lower-than-expected sales reflects the company's focus, hard work and effective investments over the last several years. Taking all of this into consideration, we now expect diluted earnings per share for the year to be at the top end of the range of $13.10 to $13.60. At Lowe's, we remain committed to our best-in-class capital allocation strategy. For 2022, we continue to expect approximately $2 billion in capital expenditures and $12 billion in share repurchases. Finally, we are affirming our outlook of return on invested capital above 36% for the year. Turning to our sha”