Ulta Beauty raises annual sales and profit forecasts as it invests in marketing and products

Ulta Beauty beat second-quarter estimates and raised fiscal 2026 sales and EPS guidance, but shares fell about 2.11% to $528.70 in Friday premarket after Wednesday’s after-close report. EPS reached $6.55 versus estimates near $6.16–$6.17, while sales rose 8.9% to $3.036 billion and topped consensus near $2.96–$2.98 billion; comparable sales increased 3.8% on a higher average ticket, decelerating from 6.7% a year earlier. Fragrance posted high-teens comps, hair care high-single digits and K-Beauty double digits, while makeup was roughly flat and mass makeup lagged; gross margin was 39.1% versus 39.2%, and operating profit rose 10.1% to about $380 million with margin at 12.5%. Full-year EPS guidance moved to $28.70–$29.00 and sales to $13.223–$13.285 billion, with net sales growth of 6.7%–7.2% and comps of 3.2%–3.7%; the fiscal 2026 buyback plan rose to $1.8 billion from $1.5 billion after $791 million of first-half repurchases. CEO Kecia Steelman cited disciplined Ulta Beauty Unleashed execution, and Bank of America kept a Buy rating on the comps beat, margin resilience and higher outlook.

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