Why 2 Lululemon Analysts Are Now Even More Bullish

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) is one of the leading athletic apparel retailers in the United States. The company received a few key analyst calls early on Friday that took a more bullish stance on the stock.

The company has delivered on both newness and innovation in its product lineup to drive its same-store sales momentum even in a mixed to cautious retail environment. Guggenheim’s Howard Tubin now sees the fourth-quarter comparable sales up 7% to 9%, and that is in spite of difficult comparisons. He also thinks that inventory and gross margin, which have hurt the company in the past, will no longer be an issue, as management has a blueprint for successfully tackling them.

Guggenheim reiterated its Buy rating and called Lululemon a top pick, with $70 target.

At the same time, Susquehanna’s Thomas Filandro reiterated his Positive rating on Lululemon on Thursday, raising the price target to $69 from $59. He called the company a compelling innovation and global growth story. Despite a 20% stock pop since its last earnings, that rally was deserved because it had a strong holiday season when others did not. He sees management as keenly focused on key initiatives with an improved financial backdrop over the coming years.
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A few other analysts weighed in on the stock:

• Sterne Agee CRT reiterated a Buy rating with a $68 price target.
• Barclays reiterated an Overweight rating with an $85 price target.
• Morgan Stanley reiterated an Overweight rating with a $68 price target.
• SunTrust reiterated a Buy rating with a $56 price target.

So far in 2016, Lululemon is one of the few winners in the market, with the stock up nearly 9%. However, over the past 52 weeks the stock has dropped 9.2%.

Shares of Lululemon were trading at 1% to $57.65 on Friday, with a consensus analyst price target of $60.42 and a 52-week trading range of $43.14 to $70.00.