Is Estee Lauder (EL) a Resilient Stock?

Hardman Johnston Global Advisors, an investment management company, released its “Hardman Johnston Global Equity Strategy” investor letter for the fourth quarter of 2025. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Global equity markets delivered robust results in the quarter, backed by easing inflation trends and strong economic data. The Hardman Johnston Global Equity Strategy returned 2.91%, net of fees, compared to the MSCI AC World Net Index’s 3.29% gain. The Financials and Consumer Staples sectors contributed to the performance, while the Industrials and Consumer Discretionary sectors detracted from relative performance. In addition, please check the Strategy’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2025.

In its fourth-quarter 2025 investor letter, Hardman Johnston Global Equity Strategy highlighted The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) as a leading performance contributor within the Consumer Staples sector. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) is a leading player in skincare, makeup, fragrance, and hair care products.  The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) shares traded between $48.37 and $120.27 over the past 52 weeks. On January 27, 2026, The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) stock closed at $116.44 per share. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) has a market capitalization of $41.96 billion.

Hardman Johnston Global Equity Strategy stated the following regarding The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) in its fourth quarter 2025 investor letter:

"Performance within Consumer Staples was driven by The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL), the portfolio’s sole holding in the sector. Estée Lauder is in the midst of a turnaround, and fiscal 1Q26 results (ended September 30) results provided outperformance against many of the key touchpoints: sales, margins, China, US and Travel Retail. News flow since then points to a successful 11/11 for EL in China (25% of company sales), continued stabilization in the US and a Travel Retail channel that is no longer declining. Beauty overall is a one of the more resilient categories, enjoying both volume and value growth, and a hallmark of the 2025 holiday season is the “K shaped economy and consumer behavior” – as a major player in luxury beauty EL is at the nexus of these trends. Stock performance reflects optimism regarding continued progress driven by internal initiatives as well as optimism regarding the broader beauty market."

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. According to our database, 45 hedge fund portfolios held The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) at the end of the third quarter, compared to 48 in the previous quarter. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.’s (NYSE:EL) net sales increased by 3% year-over-year in Q3 2025, fueled by robust double-digit growth in fragrance and modest low single-digit growth in skincare. While we acknowledge the potential of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

In another article, we covered The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) and shared the list of best consumer staples dividend stocks to invest in. In Q3 2025, Hardman Johnston Global Equity Strategy established a position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) for its potential double-digit earnings growth and valuation upside. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 2025 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.