Lululemon is Just One Part of the Equation

Lululemon Athletica (LULU) is higher after earnings this morning. While it is not exploding to the moon like beaten-down retail peer Restoration Hardware (RH), LULU is still in the green.

And when you consider that LULU has been, frankly, acting like an unflappable retail leader since the early-May correction began, it is all the more impressive to see the leader stay intact. 

At issue now is whether retail as a group can put an end of what has been an overall sloppy year, thus far. The XRT (sector ETF for retail) topped out in early-March, two months before we saw the broad market dip. While some standouts like DECK ETSY LULU are impressive (even big, bad WMT too), we still need to see more and more of RH-types of moves regarding the glaring laggards. 

But returning to the outperfomers in the group, one name which seems to have fallen through the cracks is Ulta Beauty Inc., a chain of beauty stores which carries cosmetics and skincare brands, men's and women's fragrances, nail products, bath and body products, beauty tools and haircare products.

ULTA, on the second weekly chart, below, looks an awful lot like LULU's weekly, first below. And, yet, ULTA enjoys much less fanfare. 

Given the resurgence in consumer-related names of late, including restaurant stocks and auto-related names, I would not be surprised to see retail enjoy a reprieve this summer. ULTA is right up there on my list of names to go-to which forms the other side of the equation from LULU's "feel comfortable but look sexy" vibe, in terms of looking and smelling good, too.