Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) surpassed expectations with its fiscal fourth-quarter 2023 earnings and revenue, leading to an updated outlook on its full-year operating margin and capital expenditures. Despite the strong performance, the beauty retailer’s stock dipped over 4% intra-day today.
In the fourth quarter, Ulta Beauty achieved an earnings per share (EPS) of $8.08, exceeding the consensus estimate of $7.52. The company’s revenue reached $3.6 billion during the period, surpassing expectations of $3.53 billion. While comparable sales grew by 2.5%, marking a decline from the previous year’s 15.6%, the results still edged past the 2.23% prediction.
The gross margin remained solid at 37.7%, slightly better than the 37.6% seen a year earlier and above the forecasted 37.3%.
For the upcoming fiscal year, Ulta Beauty has revised its guidance upwards. The retailer now anticipates earnings per share to range from $26.20 to $27, an adjustment from the initial projection of $25.20 to $25.60. Expected net sales are set between $11.7 billion and $11.8 billion, with comparable sales growth forecasted to slow to between 4% and 5%, down from the previously expected 5% to 5.5%.