Lululemon Athletica (LULU) climbed 4.4% on Friday, touching $120.07 intraday before settling near that level. The stock had closed at $115.00 the session prior. Volume came in at around 2.29 million, roughly 25% below the stock’s average daily volume.
Lululemon Athletica Inc., LULU
The move comes as fresh institutional buying disclosures hit the tape. OMERS Administration Corp and Algert Global were among the firms showing new positions in LULU, and that appears to have given traders a reason to step back in.
The stock is down about 45% year to date, and some buyers are treating that drop as an entry point ahead of the company’s Q2 2026 earnings report, scheduled for September 3.
In its most recent quarter, Lululemon posted adjusted EPS of $1.69, edging past the consensus estimate of $1.67. Revenue came in at $2.47 billion, ahead of the $2.44 billion analysts expected, and up 4.3% from the same period last year.
For context, the company earned $2.60 EPS in the same quarter a year ago. The year-over-year drop in earnings shows the pressure the business is under, even with the revenue beat.
Lululemon has set its FY2026 EPS guidance at $10.95 to $11.15, and Q2 guidance at $1.76 to $1.81. Analysts as a group expect full-year EPS of $10.93.
Wall Street has not warmed up much. Stifel Nicolaus cut its price target from $176 to $134, keeping a “hold.” Jefferies dropped its target from $145 to $115, also a “hold.” BNP Paribas Exane went further, downgrading LULU to “underperform” with an $88 target.
The current consensus rating sits at “Reduce,” with an average price target of $148.38. Out of the analysts tracked by MarketBeat, 25 have a hold, five have a sell, one has a buy, and one has a strong buy.
The 50-day moving average is $117.76. The 200-day moving average is $138.56. At current prices, LULU is trading below both.
Institutional investors hold 85.2% of the stock. Among the larger recent moves, California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position by over 10,000% in Q2, now holding over 17 million units. BlackRock initiated a new position worth roughly $1 billion in the same period.
Director Charles V. Bergh purchased 4,275 units at an average of $117.05 in June, totaling about $500,000 and increasing his stake by 70.2%.
The company carries a market cap of $14.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.65, and a beta of 0.86.
Q2 earnings on September 3 will be the next major test.
The post Lululemon (LULU) Stock Jumps 4% as Institutional Buyers Move In Ahead of Earnings appeared first on CoinCentral.
