Lululemon Athletica Q4 Profit Rises, Does Not Provide Outlook

(RTTNews) - Lululemon Athletica Inc. (LULU) on Thursday reported a fourth-quarter profit that rose from a year ago, driven largely by strong revenues and gross margin improvement. Earnings for the quarter trumped Wall Street estimates, while revenues also surpassed expectations. Moving ahead, the yoga apparel maker did not provide any outlook due to the ongoing cornonavirus pandemic.

Vancouver-based Lululemon's fourth-quarter profit rose to $298.0 million or $2.28 per share from $218.5 million or $1.65 per share last year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated earnings of $2.24 per share.

Revenues for the quarter jumped 20% to $1.40 billion from $1.17 billion last year. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $1.38 billion for the quarter.

Total comparable sales increased 20 percent, with comparable store sales up 9 percent and direct to consumer revenues up 41 percent. Gross margin improved 70 basis points to 58.0 percent.

CEO Calvin McDonald said, "2019 was a strong year for lululemon, as our teams executed against our Power of Three growth plan. We are now navigating an extraordinary environment, which is currently impacting our business. The strength of our brand and strong financial position will help us manage through the day-to-day, while continuing to effectively plan for and invest in our future."

Looking forward, Lululemon did not provide a guidance for fiscal 2020, due to the "impact that COVID-19 is having across the globe."

LULU closed Thursday's trading at $200.80, up $7.18 or $3.71%, on the Nasdaq. The stock, however, slipped $5.80 or 2.89%, in the after-hours trade.