Forensic Analysis · Durable Goods, Textiles & Apparel · as of Sep 4, 2026

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (LULU)

A forensic read on Lululemon Athletica Inc. built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.

C · Mixed — selective

Forensic grade

Safe

Financial health

6.8

Distress distance

Clean

Earnings quality

Forensic signals

31.8%

ROE

4.9%

Revenue growth

The financial-health reading above compares this company's equity at BOOK value, not at what the market currently pays for it — this free snapshot doesn't pull live market data. Treat it as a rough read, not the final word.

This free snapshot doesn't read filing or proxy text, so the auditor-quality and governance checks that can lower a grade were not evaluated (red flags, auditor quality, say on pay, board independence). Those checks only ever lower a grade, so the full analysis can land below the grade above but never above it — treat it as the most favourable reading, not the settled one.

Lululemon Athletica Inc. earns a C (Mixed — selective) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 6.8, placing it in the Safe zone (based on book value, not market value, since this free snapshot doesn't pull live market data — treat this zone as a rough read, not the final word). 3 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by accruals ratio (% of noa).

What the filings flag

+13.7%

FY2025→FY2026

Accruals ratio (% of NOA). Net operating assets grew +13.7% relative to their own average in FY2026 — scaled by NOA itself, not by total assets, which is what the Forensic Screens card's own accrual row divides by. Accruals are building faster than is comfortable — part of profit is sitting in the balance sheet rather than turning to cash. The build is led by receivables up +59% against revenue +5% and inventory up +18% against +12% in cost of sales. A cash-flow measure on the same base disagrees: reported earnings ran in line with operating cash by 1% of net operating assets, against an accruals ratio of 13.7%. The two are computed differently: the accruals ratio is the change in net operating assets over average net operating assets, while the cash-flow figure is net income less operating cash flow over that same average. Read them as two results, not one.

128% of FCF

FY2026

Shareholder returns. Returned $1.2B to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2026 — 128% of free cash flow, but 74% of operating cash flow. Returns run ahead of free cash flow, with the gap funded by debt or cash reserves rather than the cash the business itself throws off; the payout itself is still covered by operating cash. Counting the $62M of stock-based comp paid out in shares on top of that, the combined claim on free cash flow is 135%.

$362M

FY2022–FY2022

Goodwill impairments. Took $362M of goodwill writedowns across 1 year (FY2022 ($362M)) — about 42% of net income over the span. Writedowns mean past acquisitions underperformed what was paid for them.

Key fundamentals

Latest Revenue$11.10B

Revenue Growth YoY+4.9%

Net Margin14.2%

Free Cash Flow$921.7M

Return on Equity31.8%

Debt / Equity0.00x

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Data from SEC EDGAR public filings · metrics as of Sep 4, 2026. Forensic signals flag probability, not certainty.