Ulta Beauty (ULTA) ended the recent trading session at $535.40, demonstrating a +2.4% change from the preceding day's closing price. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.06%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.68%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.26%.
The beauty products retailer's stock has dropped by 3.36% in the past month, falling short of the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 5.78% and the S&P 500's gain of 4.57%.
The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Ulta Beauty in its forthcoming earnings report. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $4.47, reflecting a 13.04% decrease from the same quarter last year. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $2.71 billion, reflecting a 7.12% rise from the equivalent quarter last year.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $24.36 per share and a revenue of $12.06 billion, demonstrating changes of -3.87% and +6.76%, respectively, from the preceding year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Ulta Beauty should also be noted by investors. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the business outlook.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-term stock moves. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.12% higher within the past month. Currently, Ulta Beauty is carrying a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
In the context of valuation, Ulta Beauty is at present trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 21.46. This indicates a premium in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 15.15.
Investors should also note that ULTA has a PEG ratio of 2.88 right now. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. The average PEG ratio for the Retail - Miscellaneous industry stood at 2.52 at the close of the market yesterday.
The Retail - Miscellaneous industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 76, positioning it in the top 31% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
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Ulta Beauty Inc. (ULTA): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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