Ulta (ULTA) Stock Soars on Strong Q1 Sales, Earnings Results

Ulta Salon & Cosmetics Inc. ULTA just released its first quarter fiscal 2016 earnings results, posting earnings of $1.45 per share and revenue of $1.073.7 billion.  

On May 26, David Bartosiak previewed Ulta’s earnings on Zacks weekly live earnings preview. Bartosiak is bullish on Ulta, but provided options plays going each way.

Currently, ULTA has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), but it is subject to change following the release of the company’s latest earnings report. Here are 5 key statistics from this just announced report below.

Ulta:                                                         

1. Beat earnings estimates. The company posted earnings of $1.45 per share, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.29 per share and rising 39.4% year-over-year.

2. Beat revenue estimates. The company saw revenue figures of $1.073.7 billion, also topping our consensus estimate of $1.027 billion and increasing 23.7% year-over-year.

3. Comparable sales (sales for stores open at least 14 months and e-commerce sales) increased 15.2% compared to an increase of 11.4% in the first quarter of fiscal 2015. E-commerce sales grew 38.8% to $61.0 million from $44.0 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2015.

4. For the second quarter of fiscal 2016, the Company currently expects net sales in the range of $1.041 billion-$1.058 billion, compared to actual net sales of $877.0 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2015. Income per diluted share for the second quarter of fiscal 2016 is estimated to be in the range of $1.32-$1.37. This compares to income per diluted share for the second quarter of fiscal 2015 of $1.15.

5. ULTA was up $15.94, or 7.46%, to $229.63 as of 4:31 PM ET in after-hours trading shortly after its earnings report was released.

Here’s a graph that looks at Ulta’s performance vs. its peers over the past three months:

ULTA is the largest beauty retailer that provides one-stop shopping for prestige, mass and salon products and salon services in the United States. ULTA provides affordable indulgence to its customers by combining the product breadth, value and convenience of a beauty superstore with the distinctive environment and experience of a specialty retailer. ULTA offers a unique combination of over twenty-one thousand prestige and mass beauty products across the categories of cosmetics, fragrance, haircare, skincare, bath and body products and salon styling tools, as well as salon haircare products. ULTA also offers a full-service salon in all of its stores.

Check back later for our full analysis onUlta’s first quarter earnings report!

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