Lululemon Earnings Solid, but Outlook Falls Short of Expectations
Lululemon Athletica reported better than expected second-quarter 2015 results before markets opened Thursday morning.
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Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) reported second-quarter 2015 results before markets opened Thursday. The yoga gear maker reported diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.34 on revenues of $453 million, compared with EPS of $0.33 on revenues of $390.7 million in the same period a year ago. The consensus estimates called for EPS of $0.33 on revenues of $445.76 million.
Same-store sales in the quarter increased by 6% year over year on a constant dollar basis, while online sales rose 35% on the same basis. Direct to consumer sales now make up 18.2% of Lululemon’s total sales, up from 16.2% in the same period last year, but down from 19.7% sequentially.
The company now expects second quarter EPS in the range of $0.35 to $0.37 on revenues of $477 to $482 million. Consensus estimates called for EPS of $0.43 on revenues of $478.4 million. In the year-ago third quarter, Lululemon posted EPS of $0.42 on sales of $419.4 million.
Lululemon raised its outlook for full fiscal year revenue from a prior range of $2.00 billion to $2.05 billion to a new range of $2.025 billion to $2.055 billion. EPS guidance was also raised, from a prior range of $1.86 to $1.91 to a new range of $1.87 to $1.92. The consensus estimates call for full-year EPS of $1.93 on revenues of $2.03 billion.
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The company repurchased 1 million shares of its stock in the second quarter at an average cost of $63.96 per share, for a total of nearly $64 million.
The company’s CEO, Laurent Potdevin, said:
We exceeded our revenue targets for the past quarter, supported by strong performance from both our store and e-commerce channels. Looking to the remainder of the year, our team is laser focused on meeting our strategic key goals: grow our global collective, relentlessly innovate our product lines and continue to create transformational experiences for our guests.
So far in 2015, Lululemon shares have outperformed the market: year to date, shares are up 18%, and over the past 52-weeks shares are up over 68%. The forecasts for the current quarter and the full year, however, fell short of analysts’ estimates and that will take the stock down Thursday.
Lululemon’s shares traded down about 3.8% in Thursday’s premarket session, at $61.60 in a 52-week range of $37.86 to $70.00. The consensus price target before this report was $68.59, and the high target was $85.00.
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Paul Ausick has been writing for 247Wallst.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.
He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.
