Investing.com - Shares in Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) sank by more than 11% in premarket U.S. trading on Friday after the apparel brand’s annual forecast was dented by economic uncertainty partly stemming from President Donald Trump’s tariff plans.
The Canadian company known for its pricey leggings unveiled a full-year revenue and profit outlook that fell short of expectations, as the group joined Walmart (NYSE:WMT) and other retailers in warning that Trump’s levies could hit demand.
"[C]onsumers are spending less due to increased concerns about inflation and the economy," said Chief Executive Calvin McDonald in a post-earnings call.
"This is manifesting itself into slower traffic across the industry in the U.S. in quarter one, which we are experiencing in our business as well."
CFO Meghan Frank added that the group embedded "20 basis points of a headwind" into its current fiscal year guidance, noting that this is "reflective of current actions on China and Mexico imports."
Trump has raised tariffs on China since returning to the White House in January and threatened to lift duties on Mexico. Next (LON:NXT) week, he is expected to unveil so-called "reciprocal" levies that could aim to match foreign tariffs on U.S. goods.
"We’ll continue to look across our cost structure, as well as to pricing, you know, should the environment change," Frank said.
Analysts raised concerns around weak growth in the Lululemon’s North American operations in the coming months, although strategists at J.P. Morgan said its outlook was "prudent."
For the first quarter, Lululemon said diluted earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $2.53 to $2.58 on revenue between $2.335 billion to $2.355 billion, versus estimates of $2.75 a share on revenue of $2.4 billion.
Looking further ahead, the firm expects annual earnings per share (EPS) of $14.95 to $15.15 and revenue of $11.150 billion to $11.300 billion. That compared with projections for EPS of $14.35 and sales of $10.55 billion.
For the three months ended February 1, Lululemon reported EPS of $6.14 and revenue of $3.61 billion. Wall Street had anticipated $5.82 and $3.57 billion, respectively.
(Yasin Ebrahim contributed reporting.)