Lululemon Quarterly Earnings: A Mixed Bag
Investors pushed shares of Luluemon lower in early trading on Thursday, after the yoga-apparel retailer posted mixed results for its third quarter of fiscal 2013.
Lululemon reported a quarterly profit of $0.45 per share on net income of $66.1 million, which beat analysts' estimates for earnings per share of $0.41 in the period. Revenue increased 20% to $379.9 million, which was also slightly ahead of Wall Street's expectations for revenue of $376.1 million. However, much of the good news was offset by weak guidance for the retailer's fourth quarter and full-year fiscal 2013 results.
Lululemon said flat same-store sales could weigh down earnings for the current quarter. As a result, the company forecasts fourth-quarter net revenue in the range of $535 million to $540 million, and a profit between $0.78 and $0.80 per share for the period. This is particularly concerning because the fourth quarter includes sales figures from the all-important holiday shopping season. Lululemon's brand is still recovering from a string of quality control issues and a product recall that cost the company as much as $67 million in revenue this year. Therefore, weaker-than-expected sales during the holidays could push the stock even lower heading into the new year.
Moreover, Lululemon also lowered its full-year outlook. For fiscal 2013, the retailer now expects revenue in the range of $1.605 billion to $1.610 billion, which is down from its prior guidance for full-year revenue between $1.625 billion and $1.635 billion. If there's one thing investors can be optimistic about it is the fact that Lululemon finally found a successor to Christine Day. Beginning in January, Laurent Potdevin will take over for Day as Lululemon's CEO.
Shares of Lululemon are down more than 10% year-to-date, with the stock currently trading around $61 per share, down from $68.35 at yesterday's close.
The article Lululemon Quarterly Earnings: A Mixed Bag originally appeared on Fool.com.
Fool contributor Tamara Rutter owns shares of Lululemon Athletica. The Motley Fool recommends Lululemon Athletica. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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