lululemon athletica inc. (NASDAQ:LULU)

The financial data over the reported periods reveals several significant trends in profitability and earnings performance.

Net Income

Net income showed a dip from 645.6 million USD in early 2020 to 588.9 million USD in early 2021, indicating a decline in profitability during that period. However, this was followed by a substantial recovery and growth, rising to 975.3 million USD in early 2022. After a slight decrease to 854.8 million USD in early 2023, net income surged sharply to 1.55 billion USD by early 2024 and further increased to 1.81 billion USD in early 2025. This pattern indicates strong growth momentum and improved earnings capacity in the later years.

Earnings Before Tax (EBT) and Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT)

The EBT and EBIT figures are identical, indicating no interest expenses or these were not separately disclosed. Both metrics followed a similar trend to net income, starting at 897.4 million USD in early 2020 and declining to 819.4 million USD in early 2021. Thereafter, a marked increase occurred, reaching 1.33 billion USD in early 2022 and remaining stable at approximately 1.33 billion USD in early 2023. A significant leap was observed in 2024, reaching 2.18 billion USD and climbing further to 2.58 billion USD by early 2025. This progression aligns with improved operational performance and possibly better margin management or higher sales volumes.

Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA)

EBITDA exhibited a broadly upward trajectory throughout the period. Starting at approximately 1.06 billion USD in 2020, it decreased slightly to 1.00 billion USD in 2021, mirroring the dip seen in other earnings metrics. However, it rose significantly to 1.56 billion USD in 2022 and continued to increase steadily to 1.62 billion USD in 2023. A substantial growth was recorded in 2024 and 2025, reaching 2.56 billion USD and 3.02 billion USD, respectively. This trend suggests expanding operational cash flow and a robust capacity to cover non-operating costs, with growing profitability from core operations.

Overall, the period experienced an initial decline in profitability in 2021, followed by a sustained and robust recovery starting in 2022, culminating in very strong earnings growth by 2024 and 2025. The consistent rise in EBITDA signals improving operational efficiency or scale, which underpins the accelerated growth in net income and pre-tax earnings. No indication of increased financing costs is apparent given EBIT equals EBT, suggesting either low debt levels or favorable interest conditions.

Enterprise Value (EV) Trend

The enterprise value shows notable fluctuations over the observed periods. Starting at approximately 25.0 billion USD in early 2020, it experienced a significant increase to about 40.2 billion USD by early 2021. Following a moderate rise to roughly 42.7 billion USD in early 2022, EV then declined to approximately 39.6 billion USD in early 2023. A marked surge occurred by early 2024, reaching nearly 58.1 billion USD, which was followed by a sharp decrease to around 39.2 billion USD in early 2025.

EBITDA Development

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization showed an overall upward trend through the periods. Beginning at approximately 1.06 billion USD in early 2020, EBITDA slightly decreased to about 1.00 billion USD in early 2021. Subsequently, it increased steadily each year, reaching about 1.56 billion USD in early 2022, 1.62 billion USD in early 2023, 2.56 billion USD in early 2024, and further climbing to roughly 3.02 billion USD by early 2025.

EV to EBITDA Multiple

The EV/EBITDA ratio exhibited considerable volatility over the periods. Initially, the ratio stood at 23.64 in early 2020, spiking significantly to 39.99 in early 2021. This ratio then decreased in the subsequent years to 27.43 in early 2022, 24.36 in early 2023, and 22.74 in early 2024. By early 2025, the multiple had dropped substantially to 12.97, indicating a notable change in relative valuation.

Summary of Financial Patterns

Overall, the data highlights an improving operational performance as reflected in the steady increase in EBITDA, especially noticeable from 2021 onwards. The enterprise value demonstrated notable volatility with periods of both sharp rises and declines, suggesting fluctuating market perceptions or external factors impacting valuation. The declining EV/EBITDA ratio in recent periods indicates that the company's earnings are growing faster than its enterprise value, potentially reflecting improving profitability or market revaluation. This decreasing multiple may also imply the company becoming more attractively valued relative to its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization in the latest period.