lululemon athletica inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) today announced that the Company is updating its net revenue and earnings guidance for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015 ending January 31, 2016.
For the fourth quarter, we now anticipate that net revenue will be in the range of $690 million to $695 million, which represents an increase of approximately 15% compared to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014, or on a constant dollar basis, an increase of approximately 19%. This is based on a total comparable sales increase in the high-single digits on a constant dollar basis. This compares to our previous guidance of net revenue in the range of $670 million to $685 million for the fourth quarter based on a total comparable sales increase in the mid-single digits on a constant dollar basis.
We also now expect diluted earnings per share will be in the range of $0.78 to $0.80 for the fourth quarter. The previous EPS guidance for the fourth quarter was a range of $0.75 to $0.78. EPS guidance continues to assume 139.0 million diluted weighted-average shares outstanding and a 29.5% tax rate.
“We had a very successful holiday season driven by strong execution in stores and online during the key holiday weeks. Sales for the fourth quarter are exceeding expectations and gross margin rates and expenses remain in line with prior guidance. We are looking forward to 2016 and will enter the year with a very strong leadership team across the company that is relentlessly driving our strategic priorities and long term vision,” said Laurent Potdevin, CEO of lululemon athletica.
Management will be meeting with analysts and investors and presenting at the ICR Conference in Orlando, Florida this week. The audio portion of the presentation will be webcast live at www.lululemon.com. The webcast can be found in the investor relations section of the Company’s website.
About lululemon athletica inc.
lululemon athletica inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) is a yoga-inspired athletic apparel company with products that create transformational experiences for people to live happy, healthy, fun lives. Setting the bar in technical fabrics and functional designs, lululemon works with yogis and athletes in local communities for continuous research and product feedback. For more information, visit www.lululemon.com.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Net revenue changes in constant dollars and total comparable sales in constant dollars are not United States generally accepted accounting principle (“GAAP”) performance measures. We provide net revenue changes in constant dollars and constant dollar total comparable sales because we use these measures to understand the underlying growth rate of net revenue excluding the impact of changes in foreign exchange rates, which are not under management’s control. We believe that disclosing these measures on a constant dollar basis is useful to investors because it enables them to better understand the level of growth of our business. The presentation of this financial information is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for, or superior to, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP.
