What Happened?
Shares of athletic apparel retailer Lululemon (NASDAQ:LULU) jumped 5.5% in the afternoon session after the stock's positive momentum continued as BNP Paribas Exane upgraded its rating from underperform to neutral.
The analyst set a new price target of $146. This move suggested that some analysts believed the current price already reflected much of the negativity surrounding the company's recent performance. Lululemon had been struggling with weak sales in the U.S. as its styles grew stale. However, the company acknowledged the issue and planned to introduce a greater variety of new products. This focus on a revival, coupled with the view that much of the bad news was already priced in, gave the market a reason to react more positively.
Is now the time to buy Lululemon? Access our full analysis report here.
What Is The Market Telling Us
Lululemon’s shares are somewhat volatile and have had 12 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 1 day ago when the stock gained 4.4% on the news that BNP Paribas Exane upgraded the stock to Neutral from Underperform, setting a new price target of $146.
Lululemon is down 51% since the beginning of the year, and at $182.58 per share, it is trading 56.6% below its 52-week high of $421.16 from January 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Lululemon’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $560.89.
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