Why Ulta Earnings Are Beautiful

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By Chris Lange Updated Published
Why Ulta Earnings Are Beautiful

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Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ: ULTA | ULTA Price Prediction) released its fiscal fourth-quarter financial results before the markets opened on Friday. The firm posted $3.61 in earnings per share (EPS) and $2.12 billion in revenue, which compares with consensus estimates of $3.56 in EPS on revenue $2.1 billion. The same period of last year reportedly had EPS of $3.40 and $1.94 billion in revenue.

During the most recent quarter, net sales increased 9.7%, while comparable sales increased 9.4%. Overall, the comparable sales increase was driven by 7.1% transaction growth and 2.3% growth in average ticket.

Retail comparable sales increased 7.0%, including salon comparable sales growth of 6.2%. And e-commerce comparable sales increased 25.1%.

Looking ahead to the full year, the firm expects to increase total sales in the double digits while delivering EPS in the range of $12.65 to $12.85. Consensus estimates call for $12.75 in EPS and $7.51 billion in revenue.

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Mary Dillon, CEO of Ulta, commented:

The Ulta Beauty team delivered excellent results in the fourth quarter. This performance reflects an acceleration in comparable sales in our retail stores, primarily driven by traffic. We continued to gain significant share across all major categories, particularly with digitally native brands where Ulta Beauty is often the only point of distribution in brick and mortar. Solid execution by our merchandising, store operations, e-commerce, marketing, supply chain and systems teams drove healthy sales growth and a differentiated guest experience throughout the important holiday season

Shares of Ulta traded up more than 7% early Friday to $335.97, in a new 52-week range of $199.15 to 336.69. The consensus price target is $329.10.

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Photo of Chris Lange
About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics. Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications. A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.

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