Lululemon Posts Upbeat Q1 Results, Lifts Full-Year Forecast

reported better-than-expected results for the first quarter and lifted its full-year outlook. The company posted quarterly earnings of $47.8 million, or $0.34 per share, versus around $19 million, or $0.13 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding items, earnings were $0.34 in the year-ago quarter. Its revenue gained around 10 percent year-over-year to $423.5 million from $384.6 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.33 per share on revenue of $418.94 million. The average estimate among 64 Estimize users was for earnings of $0.35 per share and revenue of $421.02 million. Direct to consumer net revenue jumped 27 percent to $83.6 million in the quarter. Its total comparable-store sales climbed 6 percent on a constant-dollar basis. Comparable store sales slipped 1 percent on a constant dollar basis, while direct to consumer revenue gained 31 percent on a constant dollar basis. Gross profit, as a percentage of net revenue, narrowed to 48.6 percent for the quarter, from 50.9 percent in the year-ago quarter. During the first quarter, Lululemon repurchased 0.3 million shares of its common stock at an average cost of $66.51 per share. Laurent Potdevin, lululemon's CEO, stated: "Our team's solid performance resulted in another improving quarter – coming in ahead of our revenue expectations. We drove positive trends in traffic, conversion, and brand engagement, along with a continued acceleration of our e-commerce business." Mr. Potdevin continued: "To support our long term goals, we are intentionally striking a strategic balance between strong growth and investments within innovation and infrastructure." For the second quarter, the company projects earnings of $0.31 to $0.33 per share, on revenue of $440 million to $445 million. Analysts had expected earnings of $0.34 per share on revenue of $439.78 million. For the full fiscal 2015, Lululemon projects earnings of $1.86 to $1.91 per share on net revenue of $2.000 billion to $2.050 billion. The company had earlier expected earnings of $1.85 to $1.90 per share on revenue of $1.97 to $2.02 billion. Lululemon shares rose 2.81 percent to $63.25 in pre-market trading.