Lululemon Fabric, Forecast Less Than Expected

For the quarter, the company reported diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.75 on revenue of $485.5 million. In the same period a year ago, the company reported EPS of $0.51 on revenue of $371.5 million. This morning’s results also compare to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimates for EPS of $0.74 and $482.1 million in revenue.

For the full year, Lululemon reported EPS of $1.85 on revenues of $1.4 billion. A year ago the company posted EPS of $1.27 on revenues of $1 billion. The consensus estimate called for EPS of $1.84 on revenues of $1.37 billion.

The company’s CEO remarked on the company’s transparency issues:

Our proprietary fabric, black Luon, is a very technical and sensitive product to manufacture. We have a long history with our manufacturers and as we have in the past, we are working closely with them to resolve the current issues. We have a team on site collaborating with them to identify the root cause.

Well, it should be easy to spot.

Lululemon guided first-quarter revenues in the range of $333 million to $343 million, based on a same-store sales increase in the range of 5% to 8%. EPS is forecast at $0.28 to $0.30, which includes a negative impact of $0.11 to $0.12 per share related to the Luon fabric issue. The consensus estimate calls for EPS of $0.40 on revenues of $345 million.

For the full year, Lululemon forecasts revenues of $1.615 billion to $1.64 billion and EPS of $1.95 to $1.99. The consensus forecast calls for full-year revenues of $1.67 billion and EPS of $2.17.

Lululemon’s same-store sales rose 10% in the quarter on a constant dollar basis, and gross profit rose 31%. Gross margin rose slightly, from 56.3% to 56.5% year-over-year. Operating margins also rose slightly.

Shares are down about 2% in premarket trading this morning, at $63.88 in a 52-week range of $52.50 to $81.09. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analyst price target of around $75.90 before today’s results were announced.