Lululemon Stock Falls to 52-Week Low: What's Happening?

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) shares touched a fresh 52-week low near $94 Friday, extending a decline that’s left the stock down 54% so far this year. Lululemon Athletica stock is at significant support. What’s behind LULU weakness? Lululemon’s Q2 Miss and Steep Guidance Cut Continue Weighing On Shares Lululemon’s stock has been under pressure since its second-quarter report on September 3. Revenue came in at $2.42 billion, short of the $2.46 billion analysts had penciled in. Sales overall slipped 4% from a year earlier. The Americas business took the bigger hit, down 8%, while international sales grew 4%. Same-store sales dropped 9% across the board. The company ended the quarter running 825 stores after adding nine new company-operated locations, with inventory levels down 1% year-over-year to $1.7 billion. Guidance for the months ahead landed even worse. Lululemon pointed to third-quarter sales of just $2.29 billion to $2.32 billion, a steep drop from the $2.53 billion Wall Street wanted. Profit guidance told a similar story, with the company eyeing 93 cents to 98 cents per share against a $2.43 consensus. Full-year numbers took an even bigger hit. Revenue guidance dropped to a range of $10.35 billion to $10.50 billion, down from an earlier $11 billion to $11.15 billion target and well under the $11.04 billion analysts expected. Profit guidance fell similarly, now pegged at $9.48 to $9.73 per share versus a prior $10.95 to $11.15 range and a $10.96 estimate. Shares Break Below Their Prior 52-Week Low Today’s dip to around $94 pushed Lululemon past its previous 52-week floor of $95.35. The stock’s high over that same stretch sat at $225.98, a gap that shows just how much ground shares have lost over the past year. With the stock now down 54% year-to-date, the continued slide points to lingering doubt among investors following the steep cuts to growth and profit expectations the company laid out earlier this month. LULU Shares Are Falling LULU Price Action: Lululemon shares were down 0.15% at $95.72 at the time of publication on Friday. The stock is trading at a new 52-week low, according to Benzinga Pro. Read Also: Stock Market Today: S&P 500, Dow Jones Futures Gain as September Jobs Report Misses Expectations— Nike, Synaptics, Corteva in Focus (UPDATED) Image: Shutterstock