Lululemon beats Street estimates in fiscal Q1

Lululemon Athletica Inc (NASDAQ: LULU) is trading up in extended hours on Wednesday after reporting market-beating financial results for its first quarter.

Lululemon stock gains on upbeat full-year guidance

Investors are cheering also because the management impressed with its future guidance. $LULU now forecasts its revenue to fall between $10.7 billion and $10.8 billion on up to $14.47 a share of per-share earnings in fiscal 2024.

Analysts, in comparison, were at $10.75 billion and $14.11 per share, respectively. Calvin McDonald – the chief executive of Lululemon Athletica said in a press release today:

The Nasdaq listed firm ended its Q1 with 711 company-operated stores. Lululemon stock is now down some 30% versus the start of 2024.

Lululemon Q1 earnings snapshot

• Earned $321 million versus the year-ago $290 million
• Per-share earnings also improved from $2.28 to $2.55
• Diluted EPS printed at $2.54 as per the earnings report
• Revenue climbed 10% year-over-year to $2.21 billion
• Consensus was $2.40 a share on $2.2 billion in revenue

Lululemon Athletica Inc improved its gross margin by 20 basis points to 57.7% in the first quarter. CEO McDonald also said on Wednesday:

What else was noteworthy in $LULU in Q1 earnings?

Other prominent figures in Lululemon's quarterly report include comparable sales that went up 7.0% versus last year on a constant dollar basis.

The athletic apparel retail firm spent just under $300 million on stock repurchase in its fiscal Q1. On Wednesday, its board authorised another $1.0 billion worth of share buybacks. Meghan Frank - $LULU's chief of finance said today:

Earlier this week, analysts at Truist Financial trimmed their price target on Lululemon stock sharply from $498 to $415. That, nonetheless, suggests a near 20% upside on top of after-hours gains in $LULU. Shares of the $37 billion giant based out of Vancouver, Canada do not, however, pay a dividend at writing.