Ralph Lauren Corporation RL has seen its shares rally 9.7% following the release of its third-quarter fiscal 2025 results. The company reached a new 52-week high of $289.33 yesterday, reflecting better-than-expected holiday performance across all geographies. The company's strong brand momentum, strategic execution and double-digit revenue growth set a positive tone for its performance, leaving investors pondering whether it's time to buy the stock, hold their positions or book profits.

In the past three months, Ralph Lauren has risen 20.5% compared with the industry’s growth of 12.6%. It has outperformed the broader Consumer Discretionary sector and the S&P 500 index, which grew 4.6% and 2%, respectively.

RL Stock's Past Three Months Performance

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RL Stock’s Three-Month Performance

Ralph Lauren’s stock rally after its earnings release highlights investor optimism. RL exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings per share (EPS) and revenues in third-quarter fiscal 2025. EPS rose 16% year over year, whereas revenues grew 11%. The upward trajectory is driven by the company’s outperformance across all geographies, channels and categories, with notable success in retail and direct-to-consumer (DTC).

Ralph Lauren is renowned for its timeless style and strategic growth initiatives, with its Next Great Chapter: Accelerate Plan propelling the company toward exceeding its top- and bottom-line targets. Centered around three key strategic pillars — elevating and energizing the lifestyle brand, driving the core while expanding opportunities and winning key cities with a robust consumer ecosystem — the strategy positions Ralph Lauren for sustained growth and market leadership.

Ralph Lauren’s DTC segment grew 12% in the fiscal third quarter, making up two-thirds of its business, with 1.9 million new consumers, largely younger, high-value shoppers. Wholesale rebounded in North America, up 6% year over year, contributing to a 7% total revenue increase to $998M. Europe surged 16% to $604 million, with strong growth in Germany, France, Italy and Spain, while the U.K. returned to growth. Asia rose 14% to $507 million, led by China and strong Japan sales. The region also drove store expansions, including in Hong Kong and Beijing, featuring Ralph’s Coffee.

RL’s Upbeat FY25 Projections Boost Sentiment

Ralph Lauren’s stock momentum and stronger North American wholesale performance, along with surprisingly robust results in Europe, have given management the confidence to raise its fiscal 2025 revenue forecast. For fiscal 2025, RL continues to anticipate year-over-year constant-currency revenue growth of 6-7% compared with the prior range of 3-4%. This includes 100-150 bps of adverse impacts of currency.

Management now expects the operating margin to grow 120-160 bps in constant currency, driven by a gross margin expansion of 130-170 bps. Earlier, management had predicted the operating margin to increase 110-130 bps. Foreign currency is anticipated to hurt gross and operating margins by about 30-50 bps.

For the fiscal fourth quarter, management anticipates revenues to grow nearly 6-7% on a constant-currency basis. This includes nearly 300 bps of negative foreign currency impacts. Operating margin is likely to expand around 120-140 bps in constant currency, driven by gross margin expansion of 80-120 bps and slight operating expense leverage.

How are Estimates Faring for RL Stock?

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for RL’s fiscal 2025 and 2026 EPS rose 0.2% and 0.4%, respectively, in the last seven days. The upward revisions in earnings estimates indicate that analysts are optimistic about the stock’s performance.

For fiscal 2025, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for RL’s sales and EPS implies 3.3% and 13.8% year-over-year growth. The consensus mark for fiscal 2026 sales and EPS indicates 3.3% and 11.2% year-over-year growth, respectively.

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How to Strategize Your RL Stock Investment?

Ralph Lauren’s 52-week high and third-quarter fiscal 2025 results highlight that a focus on brand elevation and strategic investments has led to increased consumer demand across channels. This underscores the company’s resilience and growth potential. With an optimistic outlook and upward earnings revisions, RL is well-positioned for long-term growth. As a result, the stock currently carrying a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) presents a compelling opportunity for investors seeking growth in the fashion and lifestyle sector.

Key Picks

We have highlighted three better-ranked stocks, namely, G-III Apparel Group GIII, Wolverine World Wide WWW and lululemon athletica LULU.

G-III Apparel is a manufacturer, designer and distributor of apparel and accessories under licensed brands, owned brands and private label brands. It sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

GIII Apparel has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 113.4%, on average. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GIII Apparel’s current financial-year sales indicates growth of 1.7% from the year-ago figure.

Wolverine World Wide designs, manufactures and distributes a wide variety of casual and active apparel and footwear. The company sports a Zacks Rank #1 at present.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for WWW’s current financial-year sales indicates a decline of almost 22% from the year-ago reported figures. The consensus mark for EPS reflects significant growth to 90 cents from 5 cents reported in the prior year. WWW has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 17.03%, on average.

lululemon athletica is a yoga-inspired athletic apparel company. LULU carries a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy) at present.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for lululemon athletica’s current financial-year sales and EPS indicates growth of 9.7% and 12.5%, respectively, from the year-ago corresponding figures. LULU has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 6.7%, on average.

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Ralph Lauren Corporation (RL) : Free Stock Analysis Report

lululemon athletica inc. (LULU) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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G-III Apparel Group, LTD. (GIII) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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