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Stock Comparison · Structural lead, mixed market

Lowe's Companies vs Murphy USA: Which Stock Looks Stronger in 2026?

The structural profiles are close, with Murphy USA carrying a narrow edge on growth. Lowe's Companies still has the edge on profitability, which keeps the comparison from looking entirely one-sided. The market setup broadly confirms the structural lead — Murphy USA holds the more constructive position. That puts structure and market broadly in agreement — Murphy USA's lead looks more confirmed than conflicted.

The comparison is based on similar long-term financial trajectories, not sector labels. Both peer scores are relative to the Russell 1000 universe, making them directly comparable.

Updated 2026-07-05

The lead is spread across growth and stability, rather than sitting in one isolated gap.

Trajectory Similarity
0.81
Similar
Peer-set rank: #3
within Lowe's Companies, Inc.'s functional peer set

This comparison is anchored in long-term financial trajectory similarity within the selected peer universe.

A solid similarity means the pair shares a clearly comparable long-term financial profile, even if individual dimensions still differ.

Most of the shared profile comes through investment intensity and margin consistency.

Similarity drivers
investment intensitymargin consistency
How to read the score
0.85–1.00 · Very similar0.70–0.84 · Similar0.55–0.69 · Moderately similarbelow 0.55 · Loose match
Peer-Relative Score
LOW
Lowe's Companies, Inc.
67
Peer-Score
Signal qualitylow
Peer basis: Russell 1000
vs
MUSA
Murphy USA Inc.
68
Peer-Score
Signal qualityLow
Peer basis: Russell 1000

Scores reflect position relative to comparable companies with similar long-term financial trajectories.

The largest gaps do not all point in the same direction.

Dimension spread: LOW vs MUSA Profitability 68 49 Stability 47 68 Valuation 79 76 Growth 66 87 LOW MUSA
Gap Ranking
#1 Growth +21
#2 Stability +21
#3 Profitability +19
#4 Valuation +3
Price Setup

Left means cheaper relative valuation. Higher means stronger structure.

Price setup map for LOW and MUSA Stronger + cheaper Stronger + richer Weaker + cheaper Weaker + richer LOWMUSA Relative valuation Structural strength

The setup is mixed: neither company clearly combines the stronger profile with the more supportive price setup.

Valuation position uses peer-relative PE percentile (idx_pct_pe) where available.

Entry today — historical context

Where LOW and MUSA each sit in their own 5-year price and valuation history.

BASED ON 5-YEAR HISTORY LOW Neutral · above norm 0th 50th 100th 32 pct gap MUSA Elevated · above norm 0th 50th 100th 67th 99th
Today LOW sits in the upper-middle of its own 5-year history (67th percentile), while MUSA sits higher in its own history (99th). Within each stock's own 5-year context, LOW is at a historically more favourable entry position than MUSA. This reflects entry timing, not which company is structurally stronger — peer-relative analysis is a separate question addressed above.

Describes historical entry positioning only. Descriptive — not investment advice.

Relative Position vs Comparable Companies
Growth
Both look solid on growth, though Murphy USA Inc. still holds the stronger peer position.
Stability
On stability, the same pattern holds: both are strong, but Murphy USA Inc. still leads clearly.
Growth — Dominant Gap
LOW
66
MUSA
87
Gap+21in favour of MUSA

Earnings growth is one contributing factor within the growth lead.

What keeps the gap from being one-sided

Profitability still favours Lowe's Companies, with a 6.3-point operating margin advantage keeping the comparison from looking fully resolved.

What this means for the comparison

The lead is built on both growth and stability — though profitability still provides a counterweight.

Explore full peer positioning in AssetNext

Break down the LOW vs MUSA comparison across all dimensions with the full interactive tool.

Explore full breakdown →
Similar growth-and-stability comparisons

Explore how LOW and MUSA each compare against other companies in their peer groups.

Rule-based, descriptive analysis only. Derived from peer percentile dimensions. Not investment advice. Peer groups are determined algorithmically based on structural similarity — not by sector classification alone.

How AssetNext Peer Scores Work

AssetNext scores reflect each company's structural position within its functional peer group — not a ranking against all stocks simultaneously. Peers are identified by similarity across eight financial dimensions, including revenue growth trajectory, margin structure, capital intensity, and earnings stability. A score of 75 means the company ranks in the top quartile within its own peer group, not the entire market.

Four dimension scores drive the overall peer score: Growth (revenue trajectory and expansion dynamics), Quality (margin structure and capital efficiency), Valuation (peer-relative pricing on standard multiples), and Stability (earnings consistency and financial predictability). Each dimension is scored 0–100 relative to the peer group, then combined into an overall peer score using equal weighting.

Because scores are peer-relative, the same company can have slightly different scores in different index universes. On comparison pages, both companies are shown within their shared peer universe wherever possible — so the scores are directly comparable. The peer basis is stated on each score card.

Scores are recalculated periodically as underlying financial data is updated. All analysis is descriptive and rule-based — AssetNext describes structural realities and never issues buy, sell or hold recommendations.