Capital Expenditures

The Home Improvement industry has shown improvement since the financial crisis of 2008. Two companies are of particular interest: Lowes Companies, Inc. And Home Depot, Inc.

Capital Expenditures. The Capital Expenditures made by a company are used to acquire or upgrade tangible assets such as facilities, equipment, or other property. The general purpose of capital outlay is to maintain the scope of operations or increase operations in some way. Capital expenditures are industry sensitive, with industries in telecom, oil, or utilities operations particularly capital intensive. A capital expenditure that maintains an asset in its current condition is deducted in its entirety in the year of the expense. Alternately, a capital expenditure that is used to purchase a new capital asset or increases the useful life of an existing capital asset is treated as an expense that must be capitalized. That is to say that the cost of the...
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