Suppose that the following information is available for Home Depot Corporation and Lowes Corporation:

Based on this information, the earnings per share calculations $($rounded to two decimals$)$ suggest

lower performance in $2024$ than in $2025$ for Home Depot Corporation

an decrease in the average number of common shares outstanding between $2024$ and $2025$ for

Home Depot Corporation.

lower performance in $2025$ than in $2024$ for Home Depot Corporation.

less earnings available to Home Depot's common stockholders in $2025$ than in $2024.$