Lululemon 2Q Profit Beats as Demand at Veteran Stores Ramps Up
Lululemon (NASDAQ:LULU) reported stronger second-quarter earnings than Wall Street expected on Friday as demand at its more established stores continued to improve, leading the retailer to lift its full-year profit outlook.
The Vancouver-based company posted net income of $57.2 million, or 39 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier $38.4 million, or 26 cents.
Excluding the impact of a lower tax rate, the retailer earned 34 cents, topping average analyst estimates of 31 cents in a Thomson Reuters poll.
Revenue for the three months ended July 29 climbed 33% to $282.6 million from $212.3 million a year ago, marginally below the Street’s view of $282.8 million. Comparable sales climbed 15%.
“We continue to strive for the right balance between strong growth and maintaining our market leader focus on execution, innovation and investments in infrastructure and while doing so delivered another strong quarter,” Lululemon CEO Christine Day said in a statement.
In the current quarter, the company sees sales in the range of $300 million to $305 million on earnings between 34 cents and 36 cents. The consensus is calling for third-quarter earnings of 33 cents on sales of $300.2 million.
Lululemon also lifted its fiscal 2012 revenue outlook to $1.35 billion to $1.36 billion from an earlier $1.32 billion to $1.34 billion. Analysts on average are looking for full-year sales of $1.35 billion.
The company sees earnings of $1.76 to $1.81 a share for the full year, up from $1.55 to $1.60 earlier, topping the Street’s view of $1.63 a share.
Shares of Lululemon climbed by 4.8% to $71.90 on Friday.