Lululemon pops after comparable sales, margins dazzle in Q2
FinkAvenue

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) soared in after-hours trading on Thursday after blasting past consensus marks with its Q2 earnings report. 
Comparable sales at stores were up 23% during the quarter or 25% on a constant-currency basis..
Total revenue was up 29% during the quarter on a constant dollar basis, led by a 35% jump in international markets and 28% gain in North America.
Direct to consumer revenue rose 30% Y/Y to account for 49% of sales.
Gross margin was 56.5% of revenue vs 58.1% a year ago and 56.1% consensus. Operating margin was 21.5% of sales vs. 21.2% a year ago.
CFO Meghan Frank on the outlook: "Despite the challenges around us in the macro-environment, guest traffic in our stores and on our e-commerce sites remains robust, which speaks to the strength of our multi-dimensional operating model. I am pleased with our start to the third quarter and believe we are well positioned for the fall and holiday seasons."
The company ended the quarter with its inventory position up 85% Y/Y. LULU believes its inventories are well positioned to support its expected revenue growth in the third quarter.
Looking ahead, LULU sees Q3 revenue of $1.780B to $1.805B vs. $1.73B consensus. That tally represents a three-year compound annual growth rate of approximately 25%.
Shares of Lululemon (LULU) rose 6.99% in after-hours trading to more than offset a 1.74% decline in the regular session ahead of the report.
Lululemon (LULU) was on Seeking Alpha's Stocks to Watch list this week.