Zacks Research Forecasts Stronger Earnings for Ulta Beauty

Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research lifted their Q4 2026 earnings estimates for Ulta Beauty in a research note issued on Tuesday, December 16th. Zacks Research analyst Team now forecasts that the specialty retailer will earn $7.68 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $7.36. The consensus estimate for Ulta Beauty’s current full-year earnings is $23.96 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Ulta Beauty’s Q1 2027 earnings at $7.33 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $6.14 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $5.54 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $27.44 EPS, Q1 2028 earnings at $8.50 EPS, Q2 2028 earnings at $6.97 EPS, Q3 2028 earnings at $6.25 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $31.37 EPS.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The specialty retailer reported $5.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.61 by $0.53. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 9.93% and a return on equity of 46.33%. The business had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.14 EPS. Ulta Beauty’s revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Ulta Beauty has set its FY 2025 guidance at 25.200-25.500 EPS.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Argus raised Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $570.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Cowen upgraded Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $653.00 to $674.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Robert W. Baird set a $700.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $675.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $576.50.

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $594.01 on Wednesday. Ulta Beauty has a 12-month low of $309.01 and a 12-month high of $611.90. The business has a 50 day moving average of $538.98 and a 200-day moving average of $516.90. The stock has a market cap of $26.35 billion, a PE ratio of 22.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.87.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,353,414 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,926,979,000 after acquiring an additional 33,674 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Ulta Beauty by 2.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,975,260 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,079,973,000 after purchasing an additional 44,182 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 8.9% during the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 1,263,820 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $690,994,000 after purchasing an additional 103,540 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 128.2% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,225,023 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $449,021,000 after purchasing an additional 688,267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 64.8% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 931,557 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $341,453,000 after purchasing an additional 366,147 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ulta Beauty

Ulta Beauty, Inc operates as a specialty beauty retailer in the United States. The company offers branded and private label beauty products, including cosmetics, fragrance, haircare, skincare, bath and body products, professional hair products, and salon styling tools through its Ulta Beauty stores, shop-in-shops, Ulta.com website, and its mobile applications.