Lululemon Athletica Inc.’s stock surged more than 15 per cent in the wake of the company’s second-quarter profit which nearly doubled compared with a year ago.
The Vancouver-based athletic apparel company’s stock was up US$21.03 at US$158.03 in late-morning trading.
The increase in the stock followed the company’s announcement that it earned $95.8 million or 71 cents per share, in its most recent quarter, up from $48.7 million or 36 cents per share a year earlier.
Read more: New CEO Calvin McDonald looks to invoke Sephora experience as Lululemon surges ahead
The company also raised its guidance and said it expects to earn $3.45 to $3.53 per share for the full year on revenues between $3.18 billion to $3.23 billion, up from the $3.10 to $3.18 per share on $3.04 billion to $3.07 billion revenues it forecast three months ago.
On a conference call with financial analysts Thursday, Lululemon attributed the improvement to a 47 per cent jump in e-commerce sales, a 20 per cent spike in website traffic, its expansion into the Asian market and continued demand for women’s yoga pants.
The call was the company’s first with its new chief executive, Calvin McDonald, who joined the retailer following the departure of former CEO Laurent Potdevin, who abruptly resigned in January when the company said he “fell short” of its standards of conduct.
McDonald said he has only been at the company two weeks, but was hoping to use the “spirit of a disruptive innovator” that he encountered during his time at beauty brand Sephora to propel Lululemon towards success.
He said he plans to spend the coming weeks meeting employees in every one of the company’s departments.
“My approach is to listen and to learn as much as possible about the organization and our guests from the teams across the company and to become grounded in all things Lululemon.”