Quarterly Results From Ulta Beauty Defy Gravity Again

Oppenheimer said Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance, Inc. ULTA remains its top pick following its “gravity-defying” quarterly results.

Ulta reported a blow-out quarterly result across all metrics and upbeat guidance. In particular, comps were 16.7 percent, suggesting no slowdown in trends over Black Friday.

Comp sales increased 16.7 percent, easily topping a 14.8 percent consensus figure and management's updated guidance for a 14–15 percent increase provided in mid-October.

In Review

• Q3 EPS: $1.40 vs. estimated $1.37.
• Q3 sales: $1.131 billion vs. estimated $1.11 billion.
• Q3 comps: Up 16.7 percent.
• Q3 transactions: Grew 11.1 percent.
• Q3 average ticket: Up 5.6 percent.
• Q4 EPS guidance: $2.08–$2.13 vs. estimated $2.05.
• Q4 sales guidance: $1.516 billion–1.541 billion vs. estimated $1.51 billion.
• Q4 comp growth guidance: 12–14 percent.
• FY 2016 guidance: Raised.
• FY 2016 comps guidance: Up 13–15 percent.
• FY 2016 EPS growth: In high-20-percent range.

Commentary

“The ULTA management team continues to execute flawlessly in capitalizing on strong beauty trends and today’s results are another reminder why shares trade at more than 33x forward estimates,” analyst Rupesh Parikh wrote in a note.

Parikh has an Outperform rating on Ulta shares, with a price target of $300.

At last check, shares of Ulta Beauty were down 1.02 percent at $254.78.