[RealizedReturns]

You can't argue with Oprah's influence. On Friday she did her final annual "Favorite Things" list and Lululemon pants made the list.

I've watched LLL casually, but have never owned it. Obviously Oprah's recommendation will move more than a few pairs of pants next week, but I can't help but wonder if it will equal long-term sales growth. Thinking about picking up some at opening tomorrow.. anyone have thoughts on this?

Here's Jim Cramer admitting he was previously very wrong on LULU:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/39381316/Trading_the_Om_Depot

 

[Jungle]

I've been wanting to get my hands on this stock for a while. I thought it was kinda expensive right now. Would have been a 10 fold back at $5 a share.

My wife says every gal on the subway has one of those red lululemon bags and I see A LOT of women wearing their yoga pants/hoodies. My wife shops there, her cousin shops there, all the girls at work shop there...hmm

Peter Lynch said to look for this kind of stuff.

 

[Jungle]

Oh and just to note, most people are buying the pants because they are trendy, make them look good. They don't do yoga at all. The brand name is holding it out. But I also see a lot of women wear tights which almost look the same are are like $10-$25.

 

[humble_pie]

couldn't believe this topic so i had to look.
oh, my.
lululemon plus oprah.
you put that stuff in the washing machine it lints up & dissolves like kleenex.
dear lord, preserve us now
short term market peaks are screaming.

 

[RealizedReturns]

I was a naysayer on their ability to break the US market too. Like so many others, I believed the high price tags and the trend-factor would make the growth difficult or impossible. Boy, was I wrong. So why should the same naysaying be valid today? There's is still a lot of room to grow for them. An endorsement from Oprah last week is going to have a lot of mid-30's women adding a pair of those pants to their christmas list, it may be the tipping point for a massive growth story (or it could mean nothing).

I think I will be taking a small position in LLL this week.

 

[RealizedReturns]

In at $51.75 this morning. It feels weird to buy a stock at $50+ when I had a look at it in the $5-$10 range and passed on it.

 

[Belguy]

On today's Oprah, everyone in the studio audience was given a brand new, redesigned for 2012, Volkswagen Beetle.

Lululemon is so 'last week'. This week's recommendation from Oprah is Volkswagen!!!

 

[Jungle]

LLL is up around 5% in the last two trading days.

 

[the-royal-mail]

On today's Oprah, everyone in the studio audience was given a brand new, redesigned for 2012, Volkswagen Beetle.

Lululemon is so 'last week'. This week's recommendation from Oprah is Volkswagen!!!

I saw that episode just as I stepped in the door last night. No wonder they had to have medics in the audience. All that screaming rivalled a justin bieber concert haha.

Lucky ba-tarsds.

 

[kcowan]

I bought in at 34.90 after the IPO. I think it is one of the safe retailers because it is so trendy. I also hold THI. Of the two, I think LLL is safer.

 

[dilbert789]

I'm quite surprised that she gave away a VW and not GM's or Fords or something.

 

[Belguy]

Oprah's so-called 'favourite things' are whatever brands the manufacturers are willing to give her enough of to pass on to every member of her studio audience.

Maybe GM or Ford were asked first and turned her down figuring that the publicity may not have been worth the price

 

[Jungle]

Shares of LLL up 16%+ this morning as q3 profit nearly doubles. For anyone who invested, congrats!

 

[Lephturn]

Er - it's actually LULU

LLL is L3.

Nice pop - it's hit it's head on $65.00 here intra-day, we'll see if it can break through it.

 

[tendim]

Er - it's actually LULU

LLL is L3.

Nice pop - it's hit it's head on $65.00 here intra-day, we'll see if it can break through it.

LULU is the NASDAQ ticker; LLL is the TSE ticker. (But LLL is L3 in the NYSE! )

 

[RealizedReturns]

Wow! I took a small position but now wish I had picked up a lot more (of course). Pay attention to this figure: 29% increase in same store sales. That is pretty incredible in the current economic climate and a figure any retailer would be very envious of. And the Oprah-effect during Christmas shopping season is going to result in a very strong 4th quarter too, you can be pretty much assured of that.

I can see some pull back, but am going to hold until annual earnings report is released next year as I expect it will be a very good 4th quarter too.

With the profits I might even be able to afford a pair of those expensive pants for my wife.

 

[tendim]

I'm still wary of this. It's price is high, way too high, and at > 50, the P/E is through the roof. A lot of this happened way back when with the tech bubble; could there be a clothing bubble? I've always found fashion to be a very fickle industry; who knows what will be the next "hot item"?

I'm not saying that they aren't a strong company; a very cursory look at their balance sheet and income statement looks good. But with such strong growth in their EPS, why not starting paying out a dividend (although I haven't researched if they intend to do so in the future). But at the current price, I'd shy away and sink my money elsewhere. Sustained growth like they've had in the market is not realistic IMHO.

 

[kcowan]

The PEG which is how I evaluate such growth stocks is 42 which is a touch rich. I am going to hang on until we see what kind of pop the oprah effect will have. It is currently $20000 in my portfolio so not into rebalancing range yet. But if it exceeds $25k then I will scale back.

(This is one of those speculative stocks that I play with but I relied on DWs insight because she saw everyone at Yoga class wearing them. It is also our primary exposure to retail.)

 

[bean438]

I bought in at 34.90 after the IPO. I think it is one of the safe retailers because it is so trendy. I also hold THI. Of the two, I think LLL is safer.

Trendy makes it not safe.

 

[kcowan]

Trendy makes it not safe.

I am taking the bet. Would you like to put your money where your mouth is? I am counting on it reflecting the full effects of Oprah in the next quarter. This would be based on the pop baseline of $56.27.

If it is not above that, how much do you want?