Lululemon Athletica inc.(NASDAQ: LULU) has reported the adjusted earnings per share of $1 in the fourth quarter 2016 as compared to $0.85 a year ago, missing the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of $1.01. As a result, the stock fell 18.7% in the pre-market session on March 30th, 2017 (as of 6:01AM EDT; Source: Google finance). The stock could trade subdued in today’s session.
The company had reported the adjusted revenue growth of 12 percent to $789.9 million in the fourth quarter 2016, beating the analysts’ estimates for revenue of $785.1 million. The total comparable sales in the fourth quarter, which includes comparable store sales and direct to consumer, has increased 8%, or by 7% on a constant dollar basis. The comparable store sales grew 6%, or by 6% on a constant dollar basis and the direct to consumer net revenue has increased 12% to $164.3 million, or by 12% on a constant dollar basis in the fourth quarter.
Moreover, the gross profit grew 21% to $427.9 million, and as a percentage of net revenue was 54.2% compared to 50.3% in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015. The income from operations has increased 18% to $196.6 million, and as a percentage of net revenue was 24.9% compared to 23.6% in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015.
Additionally, the inventories at the end of fiscal 2016 has increased by 5% to $298.4 million compared to $284.0 million at the end of fiscal 2015 The company has ended the year with 406 stores.
At the end of FY 16, Lululemon Athletica has $734.8 million in cash and cash equivalents, compared to $501.5 million at the end of fiscal 2015.
For the current quarter ending in May 2017, Lululemon Athletica expects the revenue to be in the range of $510 million to $515 million, which is much below the analysts expectation for the revenue of $792 million. The revenue estimation is based on a total comparable sales decrease in the low-single digits on a constant dollar basis. The diluted earnings per share for the first quarter are expected to be in the range of $0.25 to $0.27 for the quarter, assuming the 137.3 million diluted weighted-average shares outstanding and a 31.2% tax rate.
Furthermore, Lululemon Athletica expects the full-year 2017 earnings to be in the range of $2.26 to $2.36 per share, and the revenue is expected ranging from $2.55 billion to $2.6 billion.
Lululemon Athletica stock has risen 8.88% in the last one year (source: Google Finance). According to tipranks.com, 16 analysts has covered the stock while recommending a “Moderate Buy”. Lululemon Athletica has an average price target of $72.14, which is a further upside of 8.81%.