Lululemon athletica (LULU 1.53%) reported fiscal 2013 fourth-quarter and full-year earnings before the market opened this morning that topped Wall Street's expectations. However, much of this was offset by weak guidance for its fiscal 2014 first quarter.
For the three-month period ended Feb. 2, the athletic-apparel retailer reported a profit of $0.75 per diluted share, which was unchanged from the same quarter a year ago. Nevertheless, this was $0.03 ahead of analysts' estimates for earnings per share of $0.72 in the quarter.
Lululemon's net revenue increased 7% in the fourth quarter to $521 million, up from $485.5 million in the same quarter in fiscal 2012. This also beat the Street's estimate for quarterly revenue of $515.1 million. But the company's guidance for the current quarter fell short of estimates.
Source: The Motley Fool.
Management said it expects first-quarter EPS in the range of $0.31 to $0.33 to start off fiscal 2014, while analysts had forecast a profit of $0.38 a share.
This was the first earnings announcement since Laurent Potdevin replaced Christine Day as Lululemon Athletica CEO in January.
"2014 is an investment year with an emphasis on strengthening our foundation, reigniting our product engine, and accelerating sustainable and controlled global expansion," Potdevin said in a press release. "lululemon's magic has been built by creating technical beautiful product and sharing our distinct culture with our communities. The emotional connection that lululemon creates is at the heart of what we stand for, and we are being relentless in our commitment to delivering a distinct and authentic experience that is unlike any other."
Shares of Lululemon were up more than 8% as of 9:50 a.m., EDT.
