Disappointing sales outlooks from Lululemon and Nike prompted CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Friday to wonder whether the big athletic apparel makers are ceding ground to lower-priced competitors. “Nike, Lulu — are these companies that are just charging too much when others are coming underneath them with good product? That’s what I question,” Cramer said on “Squawk on the Street.” “They don’t address the competition in any of these. They still act as if they’re kings. I don’t think they’re kings anymore.” Shares of Lululemon tanked more than 16% Friday after issuing light current-quarter and full-year guidance after the closing bell Thursday. The company’s finance chief said weaker U.S. traffic and a challenging consumer environment has led to the “broad-based” slowdown. The company’s outlook for fiscal 2024 —which calls for annual sales growth between 11% and 12% — was dampened by these slower traffic trends. Lululemon saw 16% year-over-year revenue growth in fiscal 2023. LULU 5D mountain LULU stock performance. Lululemon’s earnings report and outlook was “surprising,” Cramer said, considering the Vancouver, Canada-based firm has been viewed as a “high-growth company.” “They did blame the consumer at one point, not themselves. I think that is something I question because the consumer was very strong at a lot of other places,” Cramer said, pointing to Ralph Lauren as one example . Meanwhile, shares of Nike initially popped 5% after its earnings announcement Thursday evening but did a U-turn once the company released guidance for fiscal 2024 fourth quarter and discussed its fiscal 2025 outlook. The stock is down more than 7% in Friday’s session. On the earnings call, Nike’s finance chief said the company is “prudently planning” for revenue in the first half of fiscal 2025 to be down “low-single digits,” though overall earnings and sales for the year are expected to grow. Management did not quantify by how much.
