Shares of Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ: LULU) stock fell 13% in May, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Investors were worried about the retail market leading up to Lululemon's first-quarter report, released on June 1. However, they were pleasantly surprised by the excellent report, and Lululemon stock climbed 11% after the report.

Lululemon continues to demonstrate incredible resilience in the face of overall negative market conditions. Many companies have taken all sorts of actions to generate sales in a hostile retail climate and maintain or improve profitability through price increases and costs efficiencies, but they only go so far as long as inflation is still here. Even retailers that were managing at first are beginning to feel the pinch.

Lululemon, however, continues to pump along with strong operational performance. In the 2023 first fiscal quarter, ended April 30, sales increased 24% over last year to $2 billion. Comparable sales increased 13%, and direct-to-consumer revenue, what it calls its digital segment, was up 17% more than last year. Digital accounted for 42% of sales, compared with 45% last year. Lululemon's balanced omnichannel options are an important element of its performance, and that's even clearer now as the digital presence and physical stores are having a see-saw moment in how shoppers spend their money.

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Source Fool.com