Ulta shares pop as beauty retailer hikes sales and earnings outlook for second straight quarter

Ulta Beauty on Thursday raised its full-year sales outlook after topping Wall Street's expectations for the fiscal third quarter.

The beauty retailer said it now expects net sales for the year to be approximately $12.3 billion, higher than its previous expectations of $12 billion to $12.1 billion. That would would represent an increase from last fiscal year's net sales of $11.3 billion. It expects earnings per share of $25.20 to $25.50, up from its prior expectations of $23.85 to $24.30.

It expects comparable sales, a metric that takes out one-time factors like store openings and closures, to rise by 4.4% to 4.7%, up from its prior outlook of 2.5% to 3.5%.

Ulta has raised its sales and profit outlook for two consecutive quarters.

Here's what the retailer reported for the fiscal third quarter compared with what Wall Street expected, according to LSEG:

Ulta has benefitted from shoppers who have kept spending on beauty, even as they trim the budget or seek out lower-priced options in other discretionary categories. Yet the specialty retailer faces stiffer competition from a wide range of rivals, including big-box retailers like Walmart, online players like Amazon and upstarts like TikTok Shop.

Beauty sales have been strong overall this year in the U.S., according to data from market research firm Circana. In the first nine months of 2025, prestige beauty sales in terms of dollars rose 4% and mass beauty sales rose 5% year over year.

According to Circana, beauty is poised to be a popular category during the holidays, with the market researcher's surveys indicating that more consumers plan to gift beauty products than a year ago, particularly those in households with higher-incomes and those with children.

In the three-month period that ended Nov. 1, Ulta reported net income of $230.9 million, or $5.14 per share, compared with $242.2 million, or $5.14 per share, in the year-ago quarter.

Revenue rose from $2.53 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Ulta announced in October that Christopher DelOrefice, the chief financial officer of medical technology company Becton Dickinson & Company, will become its new CFO. He will start in the role on Dec. 5.

As of Thursday's close, Ulta's shares have risen about 23% so far this year. That surpasses the S&P 500's nearly 17% gains during the same period.

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