Lululemon shares rise after it beats expectations and raises outlook; 'impressive' say analysts

Investing.com -- Lululemon Athletica shares rose after beating expectations and raising its outlook.

The athleisure apparel retailer reported second-quarter earnings per share of $2.68 on revenue of $2.2 billion. Analysts expected earnings per share of $2.54 on revenue of $2.17 billion. Total revenue was up 18% from the same time last year.

Total comparable store sales rose 11%. Direct-to-consumer net revenue rose 15%.

Shares rose 1.4% in pre-market Friday trading and were up 19% so far this year.

The company sees third-quarter profit of $2.23 to 2.28 a share and revenue of $2.17B to $2.19B.

For the full year, profit is seen in a range of $12.10 to $12.17 a share and revenue in a range of $9.51B to $9.57B.

Stifel analysts modestly raised the price target on LULU shares.

"We remain comfortable with our BUY rating, and continue to view LULU shares as an attractive core holding for large cap growth investors," they said in a note.

BMO analysts added:

"LULU performance remains impressive, in our view, representing among the best in retail. However, at current values, we believe this is largely reflected in shares."

Additional reporting by Senad Karaahmetovic