Lululemon shares get lift after Q1 results

Shares of apparel maker LululemonAthletica Inc.rose almost five per cent on Wednesday after the company reported first-quarter results that met analysts' expectations.

The company's stock gained $3.34 US on Nasdaq to close at $71.48 US.

Earlier in the day, Vancouver-based Lululemon said it made $45.3 million, or 33 cents a share in the quarter.

After adjusting for non-recurring gains, the company made a profit of 30 cents a shares. That met the average estimate of 16 analysts surveyed byZacks Investment Research.

Lululemon said its revenue for the quarter was$495.5 million. A dozen analysts surveyed byZackshadexpected the company to post revenue of $488 million.

"We are pleased with ourfirst quarter performance, delivering strong sales results and grossmargin that exceeded expectations,"LaurentPotdevin, Lulemon'sCEO, said in a release."We finished the quarter with ourinventory levels rebalanced and on track to achieve our goals for theyear."

The company said itexpects revenue in the range of $505 million to $515 million for the current quarter, which concludes in August. Analysts surveyed by Zacks had expected revenue of $514.3 million.

Full-year earnings are expected to be$2.05 to$2.15 per share, the company said, with revenue of $2.31 billion to $2.35
billion.