Credit: Ulta Beauty / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)
Ulta $ULTA Beauty on Tuesday reported first-quarter net sales of $3.16 billion, an increase of 11.1% from the same period a year earlier, and raised its full-year earnings outlook on the strength of broad-based growth across all product categories and sales channels.
Diluted earnings per share rose 15.5% to $7.74. Analysts had expected earnings of $6.86 per share, according to CNBC. Revenue came in above analyst expectations of $3.10 billion.
A 3.7% jump in average ticket value and a 1.6% uptick in transaction volume combined to push comparable sales up 5.3% for the quarter. Analysts had projected comparable sales growth of 4.6%, according to CNBC.
The gross margin rate moved from 39.1% to 40.1% year over year, with CFO Chris DelOrefice citing reduced inventory shrink and improved merchandise margins as the primary drivers.
"Fiscal 2026 is off to a strong start driven by broad-based growth across all channels and major categories," CEO Kecia Steelman said in a statement. "Our results demonstrate the strengths of our model, focused execution of our talented associates, and the effectiveness of our strategy in an uncertain macroeconomic landscape."
Among the factors the company credited for its revenue gains were the Space NK acquisition, new store openings, and stronger comparable-store performance. Fragrances was the strongest-performing category during the quarter, rising to 12% of total revenue from 11% a year earlier.
Looking ahead to the full fiscal year 2026, Ulta nudged its earnings per share target upward to $28.36-$28.80 from a prior range of $28.05-$28.55, while leaving its projections for 6% to 7% net sales growth and 2.5% to 3.5% comparable sales growth unchanged.
Steelman told analysts that Ulta's TikTok Shop debut, which emphasized Ulta-specific products, boosted quarterly performance, and that the retailer added more than 20 new brands to its lineup, Rare Beauty among them, CNBC reports.
Ulta spent $555 million buying back 958,323 shares during the quarter. As of period end, its retail footprint stood at 1,521 domestic stores and 87 locations outside the United States, the latter including a presence at the Dubai Mall.
