Lululemon Athletica inc. (LULU), Oxford Industries, Inc. (OXM): 5 Reasons to Worry About Next Week

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The economy is showing signs of fumbling the recovery.

For starters, mortgage rates are starting to creep higher. The 30-year rate is closing in on 4%, making it the highest level in a year. As cheap financing dries up, where do you think housing prices and the purchase of other big-ticket items will go?

The news isn’t just iffy on the macro level. There are also more than a few companies that aren’t pulling their own weight in this supposed economic recovery.

Lululemon Athletica inc. (NASDAQ:LULU)

There are still plenty of names that aren’t growing their earnings. Let’s go over a few of the companies that are expected to go the wrong way on the bottom line next week.

Company Latest Quarter EPS (estimated) Year-Ago Quarter EPS
lululemon athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) $0.30 $0.32
Oxford Industries (NYSE:OXM) $0.78 $1.12
Synutra (NASDAQ:SYUT) $0.02 $0.13
Smithfield Foods (NYSE:SFD) $0.43 $0.43
KMG Chemicals (NYSE:KMG) $0.22 $0.33

Source: Thomson Reuters.

Clearing the table
Let’s start at the top with Lululemon Athletica inc. (NASDAQ:LULU). This may be a surprise. Isn’t this the upscale yoga apparel retailer that’s been posting monster growth in recent years? Yes, that’s all true, but we can’t forget the Luon pants fiasco that erupted in mid-March. The chain had to pull stock of its black Luon pants because the sheerness made them practically see-through. It was an embarrassing episode that took place midway through the company’s fiscal quarter.

The chain only recently began restocking all but one of the styles that were pulled, and early on the retailer warned that it would sting the bottom line. Analysts see healthy revenue growth of 19%, but they see profitability dipping slightly.

Oxford Industries, Inc. (NYSE:OXM) is also in the apparel business, but it didn’t have any see-through scandals to work through. Oxford Industries, Inc. (NYSE:OXM) is the company behind Tommy Bahama tropical shirts, Lilly Pulitzer dresses, and other branded clothing items.

Analysts see a small uptick in revenue at Oxford Industries, Inc. (NYSE:OXM), but they also see profitability dropping sharply. If the pros seem pessimistic in holding out for just $0.78 a share on Tuesday, keep in mind that these same analysts overestimated Oxford Industries, Inc. (NYSE:OXM)’s profitability in the two previous quarters.

Synutra International, Inc. (NASDAQ:SYUT) is a leading seller of infant formula in China. Naturally, this would seem to be a big business given China’s place as the world’s most populous nation. However, Wall Street sees revenue falling 7% for the quarter.

It gets worse. If you think that Oxford Industries, Inc. (NYSE:OXM) is on a mean streak after coming up short relative to expectations in the two previous quarters, Synutra International, Inc. (NASDAQ:SYUT) missed analyst profit targets every single quarter last year.

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