William Blair Issues Pessimistic Estimate for LULU Earnings

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) – Analysts at William Blair dropped their Q1 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Lululemon Athletica in a research note issued to investors on Friday, March 28th. William Blair analyst S. Zackfia now expects that the apparel retailer will earn $2.60 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $2.77. William Blair has a “Outperform” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Lululemon Athletica’s current full-year earnings is $14.36 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Lululemon Athletica’s Q2 2026 earnings at $3.59 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $3.20 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $5.85 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $15.22 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $16.92 EPS.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 27th. The apparel retailer reported $6.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.85 by $0.29. Lululemon Athletica had a net margin of 17.05% and a return on equity of 42.16%. The company had revenue of $3.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.29 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on LULU. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Lululemon Athletica from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $360.00 to $460.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Lululemon Athletica from $350.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Lululemon Athletica from $292.00 to $396.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup set a $330.00 price target on Lululemon Athletica and gave the stock a “negative” rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $460.00 to $380.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lululemon Athletica presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $380.72.

Lululemon Athletica Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LULU opened at $279.63 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $34.05 billion, a PE ratio of 20.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.21. Lululemon Athletica has a 1 year low of $226.01 and a 1 year high of $423.32. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $360.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $340.47.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lululemon Athletica

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LULU. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lululemon Athletica during the fourth quarter valued at $275,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in Lululemon Athletica by 50.5% in the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 103,424 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $28,070,000 after buying an additional 34,704 shares during the period. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC boosted its position in Lululemon Athletica by 138.1% in the 4th quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC now owns 2,698 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,032,000 after buying an additional 1,565 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc. grew its stake in Lululemon Athletica by 495.1% in the 4th quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 4,255 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,627,000 after acquiring an additional 3,540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Lululemon Athletica during the fourth quarter worth approximately $17,775,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.20% of the company’s stock.

Lululemon Athletica Company Profile

Lululemon Athletica Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, distributes, and retails athletic apparel, footwear, and accessories under the lululemon brand for women and men. It offers pants, shorts, tops, and jackets for healthy lifestyle, such as yoga, running, training, and other activities. It also provides fitness-inspired accessories.