Ulta shares plummet as profit and sales miss expectations and company slashes outlook

Shares of Ulta Beauty tanked more than 20% after the company reported earnings after the bell Thursday that missed analysts’ expectations and slashed its outlook for the fiscal year.

Here’s how the company did, according to a survey of analysts from Refinitiv:

• Adjusted earnings per share: $2.76, vs. $2.80 expected
• Revenue: $1.67 billion, vs. $1.68 billion expected
• Same-store sales: up 6.2% vs. 6.6% rise expected

The company lowered its earnings forecast to a range of $11.86 to $12.06 per share from a prior range of $12.82 to $13.03 per share. It also cut its revenue growth expectations to between 9% and 12%. Previously, it said it expected low double-digit growth.

“The Ulta Beauty team delivered another quarter of solid top-line performance, gross margin expansion, and double-digit earnings growth,” said CEO Mary Dillon. “Looking forward, we have updated our fiscal 2019 outlook to reflect the headwinds we are currently seeing in the US cosmetics market. We remain confident that our guest-centric, differentiated business model will drive continued market share gains and strong returns for our shareholders over the long term.”

The company reported net income of $161.3 million, or $2.76 per share, compared with $148.3 million, or $2.46 per share, a year ago. This missed Wall Street’s expectations of $2.80 in earnings per share.

Its revenue rose 12% to $1.67 billion, compared with $1.49 billion a year earlier. This was slightly lower than analyst expectations of $1.68 billion in net sales.