LULU · Consumer discretionary(apparel & other finishd prods of fabrics & similar matl) · 10 years of annual accounts filed with the SEC · latest fiscal year ended 2026-02-01
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lululemon athletica inc. reported revenue of $11.1 billion in fiscal 2026, after growing 18.9% a year over the previous 9 years. Its operating margin widened from 18.0% in 2017 to 19.9%. Of the $11.6 billion its operations generated over 10 years, 48.2% went to buybacks and 35.3% back into the business; the share count fell 13.3%. On the accounting screens, it passes 5 of 8 Piotroski tests, its Altman Z'' of 6.83 is in the safe zone and its Beneish M-score is below the -1.78 line; 1 of the six cross-checks between its statements fires.
Revenue, fiscal 202611.1B+18.9% a year over 9 years
Operating margin19.9%gross margin 56.6%
Return on invested capital—34.8% on average over 4 years
Free cash flow after stock pay859.5M7.7% of revenue
Net debt ÷ EBITDA—net debt —
Piotroski F-score5/8tests of improvement passed
Is it growing?
Revenue and the operating income it turns into. Growth that does not reach operating income is growth bought with margin.
RevenueOperating income
05.0B10.0B15.0B
2017Revenue 2.3BOperating income 421.2M
2018Revenue 2.6BOperating income 456.0M
2019Revenue 3.3BOperating income 705.8M
2020Revenue 4.0BOperating income 889.1M
2021Revenue 4.4BOperating income 820.0M
2022Revenue 6.3BOperating income 1.3B
2023Revenue 8.1BOperating income 1.3B
2024Revenue 9.6BOperating income 2.1B
2025Revenue 10.6BOperating income 2.5B
2026Revenue 11.1BOperating income 2.2B
2017201820192020202120222023202420252026
Compound growth a year
3 yrs
5 yrs
9 yrs
Revenue
+11.0%
+20.3%
+18.9%
Operating income
+18.5%
+21.9%
+20.2%
Net income
+22.7%
+21.8%
+20.1%
Earnings per share
+25.7%
+24.1%
+22.0%
Free cash flow per share
+44.6%
+12.0%
+18.2%
Shares
-2.4%
-1.9%
-1.6%
Falling shares are buybacks: each remaining share owns more of the company.
Does it earn more than its capital costs?
Margins say how much of each sale is kept; return on invested capital says how much the business earns on the money it needs to operate. Growth only creates value when that return is above the cost of the capital.
Return on invested capitalCost of capital today · 10.2%
0.0%20.0%40.0%60.0%
2017
2018
2019
2020Return on invested capital 32.8%
2021Return on invested capital 23.0%
2022Return on invested capital 35.6%
2023Return on invested capital 27.1%
2024Return on invested capital 35.9%
2025Return on invested capital 40.8%
2026
2017201820192020202120222023202420252026
Economic profit
Economic profit
0500.0M1.0B1.5B
2017
2018
2019
2020Economic profit 441.1M
2021Economic profit 329.2M
2022Economic profit 696.3M
2023Economic profit 531.9M
2024Economic profit 1.1B
2025Economic profit 1.3B
2026
2017201820192020202120222023202420252026
(return on capital − cost of capital) × capital invested: the profit left after paying for the money used. Today's cost of capital is applied to every year, since a past one cannot be rebuilt honestly.
Return on equity
31.8%
Return on assets
18.7%
Asset turnover
1.31×
Overheads (SG&A)
36.6% of revenue
Is the profit cash, and where does the cash go?
Net income is an accounting opinion; free cash flow is what was left in the bank after investing. Stock-based pay does not leave the bank — shareholders pay it through dilution — so it is shown taken off as well.
Net incomeFree cash flowAfter stock-based pay
0500.0M1.0B1.5B2.0B
2017Net income 303.4MFree cash flow 236.9MAfter stock-based pay 220.1M
2018Net income 258.7MFree cash flow 331.5MAfter stock-based pay 313.9M
2019Net income 483.8MFree cash flow 517.0MAfter stock-based pay 488.4M
2020Net income 645.6MFree cash flow 386.3MAfter stock-based pay 340.7M
2021Net income 588.9MFree cash flow 574.1MAfter stock-based pay 523.3M
2022Net income 975.3MFree cash flow 994.6MAfter stock-based pay 925.5M
2023Net income 854.8MFree cash flow 327.8MAfter stock-based pay 249.7M
2024Net income 1.6BFree cash flow 1.6BAfter stock-based pay 1.6B
2025Net income 1.8BFree cash flow 1.6BAfter stock-based pay 1.5B
2026Net income 1.6BFree cash flow 921.7MAfter stock-based pay 859.5M
2017201820192020202120222023202420252026
Where 10 years of operating cash went, 2017–2026
11.6B generated by the business. Each band is its share of that total.
Reinvested in the business 35%4.1B
Acquisitions 5%606.7M
Dividends 0%0
Share buybacks 48%5.6B
Kept, or used to pay down debt 11%1.3B
Over the same years it paid 552.4M in stock. The share count fell 13.3%. 5.0B of the buybacks went beyond offsetting that dilution.
Per share
Earnings per shareFree cash flow per shareDividend per share
$0.00$5.00$10.00$15.00
2017Earnings per share $2.21Free cash flow per share $1.73
2018Earnings per share $1.90Free cash flow per share $2.43
2019Earnings per share $3.61Free cash flow per share $3.86
2020Earnings per share $4.93Free cash flow per share $2.95
2021Earnings per share $4.50Free cash flow per share $4.39
2022Earnings per share $7.49Free cash flow per share $7.63
2023Earnings per share $6.68Free cash flow per share $2.56
2024Earnings per share $12.20Free cash flow per share $12.94
2025Earnings per share $14.64Free cash flow per share $12.78
2026Earnings per share $13.26Free cash flow per share $7.74
2017201820192020202120222023202420252026
Shares outstanding
Diluted shares
115.0M120.0M125.0M130.0M135.0M140.0M
2017Diluted shares 137.3M
2018Diluted shares 136.2M
2019Diluted shares 134.0M
2020Diluted shares 131.0M
2021Diluted shares 130.9M
2022Diluted shares 130.3M
2023Diluted shares 128.0M
2024Diluted shares 127.1M
2025Diluted shares 123.9M
2026Diluted shares 119.1M
2017201820192020202120222023202420252026
How strong is the balance sheet?
Debt is not bad in itself; debt the business cannot service in a bad year is. Net debt is debt minus cash, and below zero the company holds more cash than it owes.
Net debt
-3.0B-2.0B-1.0B0
2017
2018
2019
2020Net debt -1.1B
2021Net debt -1.2B
2022Net debt -1.3B
2023Net debt -1.2B
2024Net debt -2.2B
2025Net debt -2.0B
2026
2017201820192020202120222023202420252026
Net debt ÷ EBITDA
—
Interest coverage
— operating income ÷ interest
Current ratio
2.26 current assets ÷ current liabilities
Cash conversion cycle
110 days collects in 6d, stock 129d, pays in 25d
Three classic screens of the accounts
Each asks a different question of the same statements — is it improving, does it look like a company heading for distress, do the accounts resemble ones that were manipulated. None is a verdict; each shows what moves it.
Piotroski F-score
Is the business improving? Nine yes-or-no tests, this year against last.
5of 8 tests passed
✓ProfitableReturn on assets above zeropassed
✓Cash from operationsOperating cash flow above zeropassed
✕Profitability improvedReturn on assets higher than a year beforefailed
✓Profit backed by cashOperating cash flow above net income (low accruals)passed
–Less long-term debtLong-term debt as a share of assets fell — not reportedno data
✓More liquidCurrent ratio higher than a year beforepassed
✓No new sharesShare count did not growpassed
✕Better gross marginGross margin higher than a year beforefailed
✕Sells more per assetAsset turnover higher than a year beforefailed
Where it misleads: it measures change, not level. An excellent business that stood still for a year scores low; a poor one recovering from a disaster scores high.
Altman Z''-score
Does the balance sheet look like those of companies that went bankrupt?
6.83safe zone
1.12.6
Working capital ÷ assets 0.28 × 6.56+1.84
Retained earnings ÷ assets 0.53 × 3.26+1.74
Operating income ÷ assets 0.26 × 6.72+1.76
Equity ÷ liabilities 1.42 × 1.05+1.49
Where it misleads: buybacks. A company that returns so much cash that its equity turns small or negative sinks the last two ratios without being anywhere near bankruptcy. Banks and insurers do not fit the model at all.
Beneish M-score
Do the accounts resemble those of companies that manipulated their earnings?
-1.91below the -1.78 line
-1.78
Receivables vs sales 1.51+1.39
Gross margin slipping 1.05+0.55
Soft assets 1.05+0.43
Sales growth 1.05+0.94
Slower depreciation 1.02+0.12
Overheads vs sales 1.03-0.18
Profit not in cash -0.00-0.01
Leverage rising 0.92-0.30
Where it misleads: fast growth and acquisitions. Sales growth carries a heavy weight, so a company growing 50% a year scores like a suspect without having done anything. It is a screen from a 1999 study, not an accusation.
Where the statements disagree
Cross-checks between the income statement, the balance sheet and the cash flow for the latest year, each with the benign reading and the worrying one.
Receivables are growing 59% against revenue growing 5%.
Benign
A shift towards larger customers on longer terms, or sales concentrated at the end of the period.
Worrying
Sales are being made on looser credit, or revenue has been booked that may never be collected.
What is it worth, under which assumptions?
A company is worth the cash it will generate, brought back to today. This model projects revenue with growth that fades over the years, applies a free cash flow margin, and discounts the result at the cost of capital. Every assumption says where it came from, and all of them can be changed.
Value per share, with these assumptions$303.36discounted at 10.2% a year · 55% of it from after year 10
Type a share price on the left to ask the reverse questions: what growth, what margin or what discount rate that price implies.
What the value implies, in the usual multiples
At this model's value
Price ÷ earnings
22.9×
Enterprise value ÷ EBITDA
13.3×
Enterprise value ÷ revenue
3.3×
Free cash flow yield
2.4%
From cash flows to a value per share
10 years of cash flow, today16.4B
Everything after, today19.7B
The whole business36.1B
Minus net debt-0
What belongs to shareholders36.1B
Divided among 119.1M shares: <strong>$303.36</strong> each.
The projection next to its history
Reported free cash flow after stock pay, then the model's. A projection that looks nothing like the past needs a reason.
ReportedProjected
01.0B2.0B3.0B4.0B
2017Reported 220.1M
2018Reported 313.9M
2019Reported 488.4M
2020Reported 340.7M
2021Reported 523.3M
2022Reported 925.5M
2023Reported 249.7M
2024Reported 1.6B
2025Reported 1.5B
2026Reported 859.5M
2027Projected 1.6B
2028Projected 1.9B
2029Projected 2.2B
2030Projected 2.5B
2031Projected 2.8B
2032Projected 3.1B
2033Projected 3.4B
2034Projected 3.6B
2035Projected 3.8B
2036Projected 3.9B
2017201920212023202520272029203120332035
Year by year
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034
2035
2036
Revenue
13.4B
15.9B
18.5B
21.1B
23.8B
26.3B
28.5B
30.4B
31.7B
32.5B
Growth
20.5%
18.5%
16.5%
14.5%
12.5%
10.5%
8.5%
6.5%
4.5%
2.5%
Cash margin
12.0%
12.0%
12.0%
12.0%
12.0%
12.0%
12.0%
12.0%
12.0%
12.0%
Free cash flow
1.6B
1.9B
2.2B
2.5B
2.8B
3.1B
3.4B
3.6B
3.8B
3.9B
Worth today
1.5B
1.6B
1.7B
1.7B
1.8B
1.8B
1.7B
1.7B
1.6B
1.5B
If the least-known inputs move
Value per share as two inputs change at a time. Neighbouring cells that differ a lot are the conclusion: the value depends on numbers nobody knows to a point.
The discount rate and growth forever
discount ↓ · forever →
1.5%
2.0%
2.5%
3.0%
3.5%
9.2%
314
332
354
378
407
9.7%
293
309
327
347
372
10.2%
274
288
303
321
341
10.7%
257
269
283
298
316
11.2%
242
253
265
278
293
Year-one growth and the final margin
margin ↓ · growth →
16.5%
18.5%
20.5%
22.5%
24.5%
9.6%
219
236
255
275
296
10.8%
240
259
279
301
325
12.0%
260
281
303
327
353
13.2%
281
303
328
354
382
14.4%
301
326
352
380
410
All the inputs moving at once
5,000 valuations, each with growth, final margin, discount rate and growth forever drawn at random around the values on the left (spreads of 3.0%, 2.0%, 1.0% and 0.5%). Not a probability — the spreads are assumptions too — but an honest picture of how wide the answer is.
10th percentile$227.06
Median$303.98
90th percentile$413.00
$200.00$300.00$400.00$500.00
Half of the simulations land between <b>$260.16</b> and <b>$355.04</b>; one in ten below $227.06, one in ten above $413.00.
Does the long run make sense?
6.6×The terminal value prices the business in year 10 at 6.6 times that year's EBITDA.
17%To grow 2.5% forever while reinvesting 15% of its after-tax operating profit, the business must earn 17% on the new capital — it has earned 35% on average over the last five years.
55%of the value comes from after year 10. The more of it, the more the answer depends on the part nobody can see.
What lenders charge, after the tax saving on interest: 6.67% × (1 − 29.5%) = <strong>4.70%</strong>.
Weighted by how much of each the company uses (book value (no price given)): <strong>10.17%</strong>, the rate every future cash flow is discounted at.
What it has filed lately
The last twelve months at the SEC, most important first: annual and quarterly reports, events, large holders and insiders.
Every Form 4 filed in the last twelve months, read line by line: 6 filings by 6 people. Open-market purchases and sales are counted apart from awards, option exercises and shares withheld for taxes.
Bought on the open market—none in the period
Sold on the open market—none in the period
Under pre-arranged plans—of the sales followed a 10b5-1 plan set months earlier
A Form 4 says what happened, when, how many shares and at what price. It does not say why: a sale can be diversification, a tax bill or a plan fixed months earlier, and an award is pay, not a purchase. Nothing here is a reason to buy or sell anything.
Which large funds report holding it
From the Form 13F of the 28 institutions followed on this site, as of the end of their last reported quarter. A 13F is filed up to 45 days later and shows only long positions in US-listed shares.
Accounts from the company's own SEC filings; lines some companies do not report are shown as a dash rather than estimated. The risk-free rate is the 10-year US Treasury yield. A DCF is a way of making assumptions explicit, not a forecast: it states what the company would be worth if the assumptions held. The scores are screens that point where to look, not verdicts. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell.