Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Friday after Oppenheimer lowered their price target on the stock from $750.00 to $650.00. The stock had previously closed at $624.70, but opened at $566.28. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Ulta Beauty shares last traded at $561.3270, with a volume of 660,252 shares.

ULTA has been the topic of a number of other reports. Robert W. Baird set a $700.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $750.00 to $700.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $800.00 to $750.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $610.00 to $685.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $671.27.

Trending Headlines about Ulta Beauty

Here are the key news stories impacting Ulta Beauty this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 top-line beat — net sales rose ~11.8% to about $3.9B, driven by comps and new stores, showing resilient demand. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Digital momentum and new channels: Ulta cites AI-driven personalization boosting e‑commerce and is launching a curated assortment on TikTok Shop to reach younger customers. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: FY2026 outlook shows growth but slower cadence — management guided to mid-single-digit sales growth (roughly 6–7%) and provided an EPS range; the plan signals continued growth but a deceleration from FY25. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts largely keep positive ratings but are trimming price targets after the print — many firms reaffirm buy/overweight while lowering targets to reflect the more cautious margin/advertising outlook. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Margin pressure from rising costs and higher SG&A — operating margin compressed as advertising, incentive compensation and strategic investments increased, squeezing EPS versus last year. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Market disappointed by the forward profit signal — investors viewed the FY26 profit/same-store-sales targets and incremental spending as conservative or risk-increasing, triggering heavy selling and analyst target resets. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: High-volume selloff and volatile sentiment — the post-earnings move has driven large intraday volume and rapid target revisions, increasing short-term downside risk despite longer-term bullish arguments. Read More.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ULTA. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth approximately $430,963,000. Holocene Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 339.6% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 379,939 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $207,732,000 after purchasing an additional 293,516 shares during the period. Andra AP fonden lifted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 351,900.0% during the 3rd quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 228,800 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $125,096,000 after purchasing an additional 228,735 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 1,837.4% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 230,998 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $139,756,000 after purchasing an additional 219,075 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 33.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 840,383 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $459,479,000 after purchasing an additional 211,485 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 14.2%

The company has a 50 day moving average of $665.60 and a 200-day moving average of $587.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.82.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 12th. The specialty retailer reported $8.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.93 by $0.08. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 44.44% and a net margin of 9.31%.The firm had revenue of $3.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $8.46 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Ulta Beauty has set its FY 2026 guidance at 28.050-28.550 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ulta Beauty Company Profile

Ulta Beauty, Inc (NASDAQ: ULTA) is a U.S.-based specialty retailer and beauty services provider focused on cosmetics, fragrance, skin care, hair care, bath and body, and beauty tools. The company operates a dual-format business that combines brick-and-mortar retail stores with an e-commerce platform, offering a broad assortment of national, prestige and mass-market brands alongside its own private-label products. In many locations Ulta also provides full-service salon treatments, positioning the company as a one-stop destination for product discovery and in-store services.

The retailer’s product mix spans color cosmetics, haircare and styling products, skin and body care, fragrance, and accessories, catering to a wide range of consumer preferences and price points.