Strong holiday sales give Lululemon a boost in 4th quarter

NEW YORK (AP) - Lululemon's fiscal fourth-quarter performance beat Wall Street's view, bolstered by strong holiday sales.

Its shares rose almost 8 percent in morning trading Wednesday.

For the period ended Jan. 31, the Canadian yoga-wear company earned $117.4 million, or 85 cents per share. A year earlier it earned $110.9 million, or 78 cents per share.

Analysts polled by FactSet predicted 80 cents per share.

Revenue climbed to $704.3 million from $602.5 million, topping the $692.6 million that analysts expected.

Sales at stores open at least a year, a key indicator of a retailer's health, increased 5 percent on a constant dollar basis. This figure excludes results from stores recently opened or closed.

Lululemon Athletica Inc. reported a full-year adjusted profit of $1.86 per share on revenue of $2.06 billion.

On a constant dollar basis, same-store sales rose 4 percent.

Looking ahead, the chain anticipates first-quarter profit between 28 cents and 30 cents per share on revenue in a range of $483 million to $488 million. Lululemon expects fiscal 2016 profit between $2.05 and $2.15 per share on revenue in a range of $2.29 billion to $2.34 billion.

Wall Street is looking for a first-quarter profit of 37 cents per share on revenue of $486.1 million and fiscal 2016 profit $2.16 per share on revenue of $2.32 billion.

Lululemon shares rose $4.73, or 7.8 percent, to $65.97 in morning trading Wednesday. Its shares are up almost 2 percent over the past year.