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Ulta (ULTA) Posts Earnings Beat, Shares Slip on Comps Guidance

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Ulta Beauty Inc. (ULTA - Free Report) just released it latest quarterly results, posting earnings of $2.70 per share and revenues of $1.54 billion.

Currently, ULTA is a #3 (Hold) on the Zacks Rank, but that could change based on today’s results. Shares of the beauty giant have lost about 1.6% over the past month and were down 2.59% during regular trading hours today.

The stock is currently down about 1.8% to $242.00 per share in after-hours trading shortly after its earnings report was released.

Ulta:

Beat earnings estimates. The company reported earnings of $2.70 cents per share, easily beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.48 per share. EPS increased 31.7% year-over-year.

Beat revenue estimates. The company saw revenue figures of $1.54 billion, surpassing our consensus estimate of $1.53 billion and growing 17.4% year-over-year.

Ulta said comparable sales grew 8.1% from the prior-year quarter thanks to 5.1% transaction growth and 3% growth in average ticket.

E-commerce sales up a whopping 48% to $154.4 million compared to Q1 2017, while salon sales increased 10.1%.

For Q2, Ulta expects net sales in the range of $1.475 billion to $1.488 billion, with a comps increase of 6% to 7% compared to an increase of 11.7% in the prior-year quarter. Additionally, the company is raising its previously announced 2018 EPS guidance and expects to grow e-commerce sales in 40% range.

“Our first quarter results represent a solid start to 2018, with better than expected sales and earnings growth,” said Mary Dillon, chief executive officer. “This performance reflects our highly differentiated business model that continues to drive healthy retail comparable store sales, excellent new store productivity, and continued strength of our e-commerce business.”

Here’s a graph that looks at Ulta’s recent earnings performance:

Ulta Beauty Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Ulta Beauty Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | Ulta Beauty Inc. Quote

Ulta is a beauty retailer primarily in the United States and the premier beauty destination for cosmetics, fragrance, skin, hair care products and salon services. The company, formerly known as Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc., is based in Bolingbrook, Illinois.

Check back later for our full analysis on ULTA’s earnings report!

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