lululemon athletica inc. (NASDAQ:LULU)

Gross Profit Margin

The gross profit margin exhibited a generally positive trend over the periods analyzed. Starting at 55.5% in early May 2020, it showed gradual improvement with minor fluctuations, reaching its peak around 59.34% by mid-2025. There was a slight dip during early 2023 but the margin recovered and maintained a strong upward trajectory through 2024 and into 2025, indicating improving cost efficiency or favorable pricing strategies over time.

Operating Profit Margin

The operating profit margin presented more variability compared to the gross margin. It initially declined from 20.6% in early May 2020 to around 18.63% by the start of 2021. Subsequently, it rebounded steadily with some fluctuations, achieving a high of approximately 23.67% in mid-2025. Notably, a significant dip occurred during early 2023, where the margin dropped to 16.38%, but the company quickly recovered, suggesting effective operational adjustments. Overall, the trend indicates strengthening operational efficiency despite intermittent challenges.

Net Profit Margin

The net profit margin followed a pattern somewhat similar to the operating margin, beginning at 15.01% and dipping to lows near 13.38% in early 2021. After some declines around early 2023 where the margin dropped to roughly 10.54%, there was a strong upward movement, reaching over 17% by late 2024. The financial performance at the net level improved markedly after early 2023, reflecting better management of expenses, taxes, or other non-operational factors impacting net profitability.

Return on Equity (ROE)

Return on equity showed a generally strong and improving trend, starting at 31.46% and experiencing a decline to 23.02% during the first quarter of 2021. This was followed by a recovery and continued growth, peaking around 43.55% by late 2024. After early 2023 declines, the ROE rebounded considerably, suggesting enhanced effectiveness in generating returns on shareholders' equity, possibly due to improved profitability or efficient capital management.

Return on Assets (ROA)

The return on assets reflected initial declines from 18.04% to just above 14% by early 2021, followed by a steady recovery and growth to a peak near 24.5% by late 2024. Similar to ROE, the ROA dipped to around 15.25% in early 2023 but quickly rebounded, indicating better utilization of assets to generate earnings. The consistent improvement post-2023 signals enhanced operational performance and asset management.

Revenue and Gross Profit Trends

The net revenue demonstrates a consistent upward trend over the analyzed periods, beginning at approximately $652 million and reaching over $2.56 billion by the latest period. This growth indicates a strong expansion in sales volume or price increases. Correspondingly, gross profit exhibits a similar upward trajectory, starting around $334 million and climbing to approximately $1.43 billion, reflecting increased profitability in absolute terms.

Gross Profit Margin Analysis

The gross profit margin shows a gradual improvement throughout the periods, starting at 55.5% and increasing to around 58.4%. This indicates that the company has been effective at improving cost control or enhancing product mix, leading to a higher proportion of revenue being retained as gross profit.

Period-to-Period Variations

While the overall trend for net revenue and gross profit is positive, some fluctuations are observable between quarters, likely reflecting seasonal factors or market dynamics. Notably, certain periods exhibit sharper increases, suggesting possible promotional cycles or new product introductions. The gross profit margin remains relatively stable with minor variations, maintaining a fairly narrow range around mid to high 50 percent.

Profitability Insights

The improvement in gross profit margin concurrent with rising revenues supports the conclusion that the company is scaling efficiently. The consistent margin increase over multiple consecutive periods suggests strengthening operational efficiencies or favorable product mix changes rather than one-time events.

Summary

Overall, the company exhibits robust revenue growth complemented by rising gross profits and improving gross profit margins. These indicators collectively suggest effective growth strategies and operational management, positioning the company for sustained financial health in the observed timeframe.

The financial data demonstrates notable fluctuations in income from operations, net revenue, and operating profit margin over multiple quarters.

Income from Operations

Income from operations exhibits significant variability across the reported periods. Initially, the figure starts at 32.75 million USD and rises sharply to a peak of approximately 914 million USD in the quarter ending January 28, 2024. Following this peak, income declines somewhat but remains elevated relative to earlier periods, generally fluctuating between roughly 340 million and 530 million USD in the most recent quarters. This suggests episodic surges in operational profitability, potentially driven by seasonality or strategic initiatives.

Net Revenue

Net revenue also shows a strong upward trend over time, beginning at 652 million USD and advancing to a high of approximately 3.61 billion USD by February 2, 2025. While certain quarters depict occasional pullbacks or plateauing—such as a temporary dip after the peak in January 2024—overall the revenue trajectory is clearly positive and demonstrates sustained growth. The increasing revenue base likely contributes to expanding scale and market presence.

Operating Profit Margin

The operating profit margin remains relatively stable with moderate variation, generally ranging between 16% and 23%. Margins initially hover near 20%, dip to the mid-to-high teens around early 2023, and then recover towards the upper 20% range in the later reported quarters. The recovery and maintenance of higher profit margins despite increased revenue indicate effective cost management and operational efficiency improvements over this period.

In summary, the data reveals robust top-line growth accompanied by increasing operational income and relatively stable profit margins. The pattern underscores a solid financial performance trend characterized by scaling revenues and sustained profitability, albeit with noticeable quarterly fluctuations that may reflect market dynamics or internal business cycles.

Net Income

The net income exhibits significant fluctuations across the observed periods. It starts at 28.6 million USD in early 2020, increasing sharply to a peak of around 434.5 million USD by early 2022. Following this peak, there is a noticeable downward oscillation, with net income figures ranging between approximately 119.8 million USD and 341.6 million USD. A notable surge occurs again in early 2024, reaching approximately 748.4 million USD, before declining in later periods. Overall, net income demonstrates a pattern of substantial growth interrupted by intermittent declines and recoveries, reflecting volatility in profit generation over time.

Net Revenue

Net revenue shows a clear upward trajectory throughout the timeframe. Beginning at approximately 652 million USD in early 2020, revenue climbs steadily with periods of accelerated growth, reaching above 3.2 billion USD by early 2024. This trend indicates strong top-line expansion, with occasional deceleration but no sustained periods of decline. The persistent increase in revenue suggests successful sales growth and market expansion activities over the reported quarters.

Net Profit Margin

The net profit margin remains relatively stable yet shows some variability. The margin fluctuates mostly between 13% and 17%, with a slight decline around early 2023, dipping to approximately 10.5%-11.4%. After this dip, the margin recovers and incrementally rises to a peak of just above 17% in early 2024 before slightly decreasing toward the end of the period. This pattern implies that despite revenue growth and fluctuating net income, the company manages to maintain a generally consistent profitability ratio relative to revenue, with some transient pressure on margins during certain quarters.

Summary

The company exhibits robust revenue growth, indicating expanding sales and market presence. Net income experiences considerable volatility, with periods of marked increase balanced by phases of decline, reflecting variable expense management, operational factors, or external influences. The net profit margin, although somewhat variable, remains predominantly stable and healthy, suggesting effective cost control relative to revenue over the long term. Together, these trends highlight a growth-oriented financial profile with some earnings instability, yet maintaining underlying profitability strength.

Net Income Trends

Net income shows considerable fluctuations over the observed periods. Initially, it increased significantly from 28,632 thousand USD to a peak of 434,504 thousand USD by January 30, 2022. Following this peak, net income experienced a decline and then recovered intermittently, reaching another high point at 748,403 thousand USD by February 2, 2025. This pattern indicates periods of strong profitability interspersed with temporary downturns.

Stockholders’ Equity Movements

Stockholders’ equity demonstrates a consistent upward trajectory throughout the timeline. Starting at approximately 1,835,787 thousand USD, it steadily rose to 4,502,023 thousand USD by November 2, 2025. The growth, while steady, exhibits some periods of stabilization or smaller increases, particularly between mid-2023 and mid-2024, but overall the trend reflects increasing capital investment or retained earnings accumulation.

Return on Equity (ROE) Patterns

ROE exhibits variability but generally displays an upward trend. Starting at 31.46% in May 2020, it dipped to a low of 23.02% in January 2021 before climbing to peaks above 40% by mid-2024. The ROE experienced some volatility in the latter periods but remained predominantly strong, indicating effective utilization of equity to generate profits despite fluctuations in net income.

Relationship Between Metrics

The increase in stockholders’ equity alongside rising ROE suggests that the company has been successful in leveraging equity to enhance shareholder returns over time. Net income volatility does not appear to have negatively impacted the overall equity growth or ROE sustainability, indicating resilience and effective management of equity resources.

Summary of Financial Performance

The data reveals strong financial growth characterized by significant gains in net income and stockholders' equity. The fluctuating net income highlights potential sensitivity to market or operational factors, yet the continuous rise in equity and robust ROE underscores efficient capital management and profitable operations. Overall, the company demonstrates positive financial health with periods of heightened profitability and sustained investor value creation.

Net Income

The net income shows a generally increasing trend over the observed periods, with notable fluctuations. The net income grew significantly from 28,632 thousand USD to a peak of 748,403 thousand USD by early 2025, indicating strong profitability growth. However, some quarters exhibited sharp declines following peak results, suggesting possible seasonality or extraordinary items impacting income in certain periods. Overall, the upward trajectory reflects improving earnings capacity over time.

Total Assets

Total assets steadily increased throughout the period, rising from approximately 3.2 billion USD to nearly 8 billion USD. This consistent asset growth suggests expansion in the company’s operational scale, investment in assets, or accumulation of resources. Minor short-term declines or plateaus occurred but were generally followed by continued growth, indicating solid asset base enhancement aligned with business growth.

Return on Assets (ROA)

The ROA demonstrates a positive trend, starting at 18.04% and reaching levels above 23% in later periods, peaking around 24.5%. This improvement signifies enhanced efficiency in generating profits from the asset base. Despite some fluctuations, ROA values remained relatively high throughout, reflecting effective asset utilization. The periods with temporarily lower ROA coincide with quarters of reduced net income and possibly asset growth outpacing earnings, but the overall trend indicates strengthening profitability relative to assets.