Ulta shines after standout Q1 results and a brighter full-year outlook
The beauty retailer credited a “very successful” 21 Days of Beauty campaign and strong Valentine’s and Easter demand.
Ulta Beauty shares were up nearly 11% in early trading Thursday after the beauty retailer reported blowout Q1 results and lifted its full-year outlook.
Revenue hit $2.84 billion, topping FactSet’s $2.79 billion estimate. Earnings per share clocked in at $6.70, far above Wall Street’s $5.80 forecast. The highlight: same-store sales rose 2.9%, crushing the 0.2% estimate, thanks in part to the chain’s annual 21 Days of Beauty sales event and strong holiday momentum around Valentine’s Day and Easter.
Fragrance was the top-performing category, delivering double-digit growth driven by new launches in women’s and gender-neutral scents. Executives committed to doubling down on exclusives and interactive offerings to differentiate from online rivals like Amazon and Walmart.
“I feel like we set ourselves apart when we are able to have exclusivities in our stores,” CEO Kecia Steelman said on the company’s earnings call. “When we’re investing in all of these, what I’m calling like ‘beauty-tainment’-type experiences around these events that we’re doing — these are highly thought through.”
Looking ahead, Ulta raised the high end of its full-year sales guidance from $11.6 billion to $11.7 billion, and slightly bumped comparable sales growth to a range of 0% to 1.5%. Before the earnings pop, Ulta shares were up 9% over the past year.
