Dive Brief:

• Lowe's Chief Financial Officer Dave Denton will leave the home improvement retailer to become Pfizer's CFO, effective May 2.
• Brandon Sink, the home improvement retailer's senior vice president of retail finance, will succeed Denton as Lowe's CFO, effective April 30, according to a company press release.
• Sink, who has more than two decades of finance and accounting experience, joined the home improvement retailer in 2010, serving in various finance, strategy and accounting roles.

Dive Insight:

About four years after taking on the chief finance role at Lowe's, Denton is preparing to leave the home improvement retailer to become the CFO at drugmaker Pfizer. 

During his tenure, analysts credit Denton with "playing a key role in Lowe's omnichannel transformation and enhancing investor confidence by providing a stable financial framework," Telsey Advisory Group Senior Managing Director Joseph Feldman said in an emailed note.

For its next chief financial officer, Lowe's looked to its own team. Sink has been at the home improvement retailer for the past 12 years, and held roles such as vice president of merchandising finance, vice president of enterprise strategy, and vice president and corporate controller. In his most recent role as senior vice president of retail finance, Sink was responsible for finance support for stores, merchandising, supply chain, digital and marketing.

"During his nearly 12-year career at Lowe's, Brandon has worked closely with our executive leadership team and has demonstrated a deep understanding across all facets of our business," CEO Marvin Ellison said in a statement. "His appointment reflects our succession planning process and the talent across our company. He is a proven leader with strong financial and operational acumen, and I look forward to working together as we execute our strategy and continue to grow our market share, expand operating margins and deliver meaningful shareholder value."

Lowe's on Friday also reaffirmed its previously announced full-year 2022 outlook, expecting net sales to be between $97 billion and $99 billion and comps to be down 1% on the low end and up 1% on the high end.

After experiencing a boost in the early months of the pandemic, Lowe's in its most recent quarter held onto those gains, reporting net sales increased 5% year over year to $21.3 billion in Q4, while its comps increased 5%.