Shares of Lululemon (NASDAQ:LULU) are struggling for direction in after-hours trading as missed sales expectations and lowered full year guidance was offset by better-than-expected Q2 profit and improved profit margins. Although shares are marginally higher, the uptrade has been mitigated by the company’s sixth consecutive quarter of decelerating sales growth as the results underscore consumers’ rejection of higher price points without the benefit of compelling innovation.

The company earned a profit of $3.15 per share, up from $2.68 a year ago, beating estimates by $0.23 on a 7.2% increase in revenue to $2.37B, $40M shy of expectations. Gross profit margin expanded by 80 basis points to 59.6%, exceeding the 57.7% consensus estimate. Operating margin was up 110 basis points to 22.8%.

Comparable sales were up by just 2%, missing projections for a 4.52% increase.

The company ended the second quarter of 2024 with $1.6B in cash and cash equivalents and the capacity under its committed revolving credit facility was $393.7M. Inventories at the end of the second quarter of 2024 decreased 14% to $1.4B.

Lululemon’s (LULU) guidance reflects a more cautious consumer landscape with Q3 earnings forecasted to be between $2.68 to $2.73 on sales of $2.34B to $2.365B. This compares to the consensus estimate of $2.73 EPS on $2.41B in sales.

For FY25, the company lowered its revenue guidance to be between $10.375B to $10.475B from initial guidance of $10.7B to $10.8B, less than the consensus estimate of $10.62B. Earnings guidance was lowered to $13.95 to $14.15 per share from previous guidance of $14.27 to $14.47 guidance (this was raised last quarter from $14-$14.20 per share), straddling the $14.01 consensus estimate.