What Happened?
Shares of beauty, cosmetics, and personal care retailer Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ: ULTA) fell 12.5% in the afternoon session after the company reported mixed fourth quarter 2025 results.
Revenue and adjusted EBITDA came in ahead of analysts' expectations, while EPS was in line. On the other hand, its full-year EPS guidance slightly missed. Still, the outlook was promising as management highlighted a continued focus on core business growth, and expansion into new categories. CFO Chris Del Orfus noted, "Our plan for 2026 delivers against our long-term financial targets, including market share expansion and profitable growth," but also acknowledged that operating margin improvement will depend on cost discipline and realizing productivity gains from recent investments. Overall, this was a mixed quarter, with the weak guidance weighing on shares.
The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks. Is now the time to buy Ulta? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
What Is The Market Telling Us
Ulta’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 7 moves greater than 5% over the last year. Moves this big are rare for Ulta and indicate this news significantly impacted the market’s perception of the business.
The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 12 months ago when the stock gained 12.6% on the news that the company reported impressive fourth-quarter 2024 results, which beat analysts' same-store sales, revenue, gross margin, and EPS estimates.
The company recorded a modest increase in comparable sales, which was driven by a higher average ticket size despite a slight decline in transactions. Looking ahead, its full-year revenue and EPS guidance missed. However, given the recent concerns about the health of the American consumer, with companies such as DG remarking that families are just getting by these days, the results were likely a relief. Overall, this a solid quarter featuring some areas of strength in the face of a seemingly worsening macro backdrop for consumer spending.
Ulta is down 11.3% since the beginning of the year, and at $550.05 per share, it is trading 22.2% below its 52-week high of $706.82 from February 2026. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Ulta’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,706.
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