Ulta Beauty Q4 profit misses estimates

Ulta Beauty

12/03/2026 20:22

Overview

US beauty retailer's Q4 net sales rose 11.8%, beating analyst expectations

Q4 diluted EPS missed analyst expectations

Company repurchased $890.5 mln in shares during fiscal year

Outlook

Ulta Beauty sees fiscal 2026 net sales growth of 6% to 7%

Company expects fiscal 2026 diluted EPS of $28.05 to $28.55

Ulta Beauty forecasts fiscal 2026 capital expenditures of $400 mln to $450 mln

Result Drivers

COMPARABLE SALES GROWTH - Q4 comparable sales rose 5.8%, driven by a 4.2% increase in average ticket and a 1.6% increase in transactions

ACQUISITION AND STORE EXPANSION - Higher net sales attributed to the acquisition of Space NK and sales from new stores

HIGHER OPERATING COSTS - SG&A expenses rose due to higher corporate overhead from strategic investments, increased advertising, and higher incentive compensation

Company press release: ID:nBw49ZjbYa

Key Details

Metric
Beat/Miss
Actual
Consensus Estimate
Q4 Net sales
Beat
$3.90 bln
$3.80 bln (21 Analysts)
Q4 Diluted EPS
Miss
$8.01
$8.03 (23 Analysts)
Q4 Like-For-Like Growth
5.80%


Analyst Coverage

The current average analyst rating on the shares is "buy" and the breakdown of recommendations is 18 "strong buy" or "buy", 9 "hold" and 1 "sell" or "strong sell"

The average consensus recommendation for the miscellaneous specialty retailers peer group is "buy"

Wall Street's median 12-month price target for Ulta Beauty Inc is $720.00, about 10.3% above its March 11 closing price of $652.65

The stock recently traded at 23 times the next 12-month earnings vs. a P/E of 20 three months ago

For questions concerning the data in this report, contact Estimates.Support@lseg.com. For any other questions or feedback, contact reuters.support@thomsonreuters.com.

(This story was created using Reuters automation and AI based on LSEG and company data. It was checked and edited by a Reuters journalist prior to publication.)