Lululemon Reaches $10 Billion In Value (LULU)

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) has managed yet another impressive task by hitting a new all-time high in its share valuation today.  The prior 52-week range was $36.51 to $68.06 and the new high today is now over $70.00.

In a call earlier today, the research team at Stifel Nicolaus lifted its price target objective up to $77.00 and it raised its same-store and sales growth targets as well.  The firm also noted a positive consumer reaction to a change of colors and new styles as it cleaned up inventory weakness of late 2011.

This is the most amazing figure here… $10.1 billion!!!  That is the new market capitalization for Lululemon.  Not bad for a yoga-inspired theme company.

The consensus estimates are usually blown out by the company, but if it only hits the $1.59 EPS target for Jan-2013 then this one trades at 44-times expected earnings for one year out.  The company is expected to report $1.3 billion in next year’s sales.

With shares above $70.00, it is interesting that the price target objective from Thomson Reuters is just over $63.00 for this stock.  Rather than seeing analysts downgrade the stock, we just expect that they will lift some of their price targets and maintain their current ratings.

JON C. OGG