Sanford C. Bernstein Issues Pessimistic Forecast for lululemon athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) Stock Price

Key Points

• Sanford C. Bernstein cut lululemon’s price target from $145 to $115 and maintained a “market perform” rating, implying roughly 5.6% downside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly cautious: Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Evercore also lowered targets, while Truist downgraded the stock to “sell.” MarketBeat reports a consensus “Reduce” rating and a $147.23 target price.
• Lululemon’s latest results showed strong adjusted EPS of $2.92 but declining revenue and comparable sales, alongside reduced fiscal 2026 guidance. Analysts cited weaker North American demand, competition and concerns about the product assortment and growth outlook.

lululemon athletica (NASDAQ:LULU - Get Free Report) had its price target dropped by Sanford C. Bernstein from $145.00 to $115.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "market perform" rating on the apparel retailer's stock. Sanford C. Bernstein's target price suggests a potential downside of 5.56% from the company's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on lululemon athletica from $177.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Citigroup cut their target price on lululemon athletica from $185.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Truist Financial cut lululemon athletica from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $115.00 to $94.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. BTIG Research downgraded shares of lululemon athletica from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Evercore dropped their price target on shares of lululemon athletica from $175.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, lululemon athletica has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $147.23.

lululemon athletica Trading Up 1.4%

NASDAQ LULU opened at $121.77 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $14.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.83, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.87. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $118.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.61. lululemon athletica has a 52 week low of $104.44 and a 52 week high of $225.98.

lululemon athletica (NASDAQ:LULU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.79 by $1.13. lululemon athletica had a net margin of 13.03% and a return on equity of 31.26%. The business had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.10 EPS. The business's revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. lululemon athletica has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.480-9.730 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.930-0.980 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that lululemon athletica will post 10.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other lululemon athletica news, Director Charles Bergh purchased 4,275 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $117.05 per share, with a total value of $500,388.75. Following the acquisition, the director owned 10,365 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,213,223.25. This represents a 70.20% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On lululemon athletica

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in lululemon athletica during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of lululemon athletica during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Rexford Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of lululemon athletica during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in shares of lululemon athletica during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Gould Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of lululemon athletica during the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. 85.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about lululemon athletica

Here are the key news stories impacting lululemon athletica this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Second-quarter diluted EPS was $2.92, above the $1.79 analyst consensus. However, the result benefited substantially from $134.5 million in tariff refunds and related interest, which added approximately $0.86 to EPS after tax. Second-Quarter Fiscal 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: International revenue increased 4%, and lululemon repurchased approximately 2.7 million shares for $330 million during the quarter, providing some support for per-share results. Lululemon Q2 Revenue Falls 4%
• Neutral Sentiment: Nike veteran Heidi O’Neill is scheduled to become CEO next week. Her appointment offers a potential catalyst, but investors are likely to remain cautious until she demonstrates progress on product, brand, and North American growth issues. Forecast Cut Underscores Challenge for Next CEO
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue declined 4% year over year to $2.416 billion, missing expectations, while comparable sales fell 9%—the company’s weakest comparable-sales performance since the Great Recession. Americas revenue dropped 8%, highlighting intensifying competition and softer consumer demand. Lululemon Stock Plunges on Earnings and Outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Lululemon cut its fiscal 2026 revenue forecast to $10.35 billion–$10.50 billion from $11.00 billion–$11.15 billion and reduced EPS guidance to $9.48–$9.73, well below the approximately $12.35 consensus. Third-quarter EPS guidance of $0.93–$0.98 also trails estimates. Lululemon Cuts Outlook Again
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts and commentators questioned whether lululemon’s product assortment—particularly its reliance on form-fitting leggings—still matches changing customer preferences. The resulting uncertainty over the brand’s ability to restore growth contributed to the sharp decline following the earnings release. Sales Drop Raises Turnaround Concerns

lululemon athletica Company Profile

lululemon athletica inc. is a design-focused athletic apparel company known for performance-oriented apparel, footwear and accessories. The company's product portfolio centers on technical apparel for yoga, running, training and everyday active lifestyle use and includes tops, bottoms, outerwear, underwear, bags and a growing footwear assortment. lululemon emphasizes fabric science and product innovation, marketing garments that blend performance features with lifestyle styling.

Products are developed in-house and produced through a network of third-party manufacturers.

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