While the rising spending tide has lifted the entire industry, Home Depot's unusually strong operations shine through when you stack them up against smaller rival Lowe's. Whether it's sales growth (7.3% vs. 5% comps last quarter), profitability (13% vs. 9% this past year), or return on invested capital (77% vs. 32%),Home Depot comes out well ahead of its key competitor. Yet investors don't have to pay much of a premium to own a piece of that stellar performance. Home Depot is currently valued at about 21 times projected earnings, compared with 19 for Lowe's.