Lululemon beats profit and revenue expectations

Shares of Lululemon Athletica Inc. climbed in extended trading Thursday after the athletic-inspired clothing company reported second-quarter results that topped Wall Street expectations. It also offered a rosy revenue and profit outlook.

Lululemon said revenue at stores open at least a year rose 7 percent, while its direct-to-consumer sales, including online, rose 29 percent. "We are creating experiences that our guests, both existing and new, desire," CEO Laurent Potdevin said in a statement. "This strong brand momentum reinforces my confidence in our long-term strategy."

The report indicates that Lululemon has been able to shake off the blues elsewhere in the athletic clothing industry. Brands like Nike and Under Amour have seen sales slow recently and have offered discounts. Lululemon has been focusing on developing products, like yoga pants with new fabrics that have resonated with shoppers.

Lululemon had announced that it was closing 40 of its 55 Ivivva stores, which sell activewear for girls. About half the remaining Ivivva stores will be converted to Lululemon stores, the company said, and the Ivivva brand will mainly be an e-commerce business.

Potdevin said Thursday the company is on track to double sales to $4 billion by 2020 by adding more stores and expanding e-commerce. Lululemon has nearly 400 stores globally in the U.S., Europe, Asia, Australia and elsewhere.

The Vancouver, British Columbia-based company reported a fiscal second-quarter profit of $48.7 million, or 36 cents per share. That compares with $53.62, or 39 cents, in the year-ago period. Earnings adjusted for non-recurring costs were 39 cents per share, compared to the average estimate of 17 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research for earnings of 35 cents per share.

Lululemon posted revenue of $581.1 million, also topping Street forecasts. Thirteen analysts surveyed by Zacks had expected $567.8 million. For the year-ago period, it had revenue of $514,5 million.

For the current quarter ending in November, Lululemon expects per-share earnings of 50 cents to 52 cents. It forecast revenue in the range of $605 million to $615 million for the fiscal third quarter. Analysts surveyed by Zacks had expected revenue of $601.3 million.

Lululemon expects full-year earnings in the range of $2.35 to $2.42 per share, with revenue of $2.55 billion to $2.6 billion.

Lululemon shares had dropped 11 percent since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Thursday, shares hit $57.55, a drop of 25 percent in the last 12 months. After the bell, they rose close to 5 percent, or $2.65, to $60.20.

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Elements of this story was generated by Automated Insights using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on LULU at https://www.zacks.com/ap/LULU

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Keywords: Lululemon, Earnings Report, Priority Earnings