Lululemon posts strong 4Q results thanks to website redesign

Lululemon, which is on the hunt for a new CEO after its former one resigned suddenly, reported strong financial results for its fourth quarter after a redesign of its website helped attract more shoppers.

The yoga tights seller also posted a rosy outlook for the year and current quarter, and its stock soared in after-hours trading.

Former CEO Laurent Potdevin left the company last month for falling short of standards of conduct, but provided no details. The Vancouver, Canada-based company has met with several possible CEO replacements, but hasn't made a decision yet.

"We're going to take our time," said Executive Chairman Glenn Murphy, during a conference call with analysts Tuesday. "We're going to meet as many people as we can."

Lululemon.com was redesigned recently with better photographs of its clothing, the company said, which helped to get shoppers to click on buy. The site was also updated to load faster, the company said.

New colors and patterns for its athletic wear, including bottoms, tops and jackets for both women and men, helped boost sales, too, Lululemon said. Revenue rose nearly 18 percent to $928.8 million in the quarter ending Jan. 28, beating the $912.4 million Wall Street analysts expected, according to FactSet.

Its fourth-quarter profit fell 12 percent, though, due to a higher tax expense from a year ago. But its adjusted earnings came to $1.33 per share, beating Wall Street expectations by 6 cents, according to Zacks Investment Research.

For the year, the company expects earnings between $3 and $3.08 per share, with revenue ranging from $2.99 billion to $3.02 billion. Analysts expected earnings of $3.02 and revenue of $2.95 billion, according to FactSet.

The company's outlook for the current quarter, which ends in May, easily beat expectations.

Shares of Lululemon Athletica Inc., which closed at $78.71 Tuesday, jumped nearly 6 percent in extended trading Tuesday.

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Parts 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