In the latest trading session, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) closed at $690.99, marking a +1.93% move from the previous day. The stock trailed the S&P 500, which registered a daily gain of 2.05%. At the same time, the Dow added 2.54%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 2.27%.
Shares of the beauty products retailer witnessed a gain of 3.11% over the previous month, beating the performance of the Retail-Wholesale sector with its gain of 1.28%, and the S&P 500's loss of 1.49%.
Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Ulta Beauty in its upcoming earnings disclosure. In that report, analysts expect Ulta Beauty to post earnings of $7.93 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 6.26%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $3.82 billion, up 9.62% from the prior-year quarter.
For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $25.56 per share and a revenue of $12.37 billion, signifying shifts of +0.87% and +9.52%, respectively, from the last year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Ulta Beauty. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the business outlook.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-term stock moves. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
The Zacks Rank system, which varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.46% higher. Ulta Beauty is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
In terms of valuation, Ulta Beauty is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 23.84. This signifies a premium in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 21.75 for its industry.
We can additionally observe that ULTA currently boasts a PEG ratio of 3.16. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. The Retail - Miscellaneous industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 2.75 as of yesterday's close.
The Retail - Miscellaneous industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 82, which puts it in the top 34% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Keep in mind to rely on Zacks.com to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding trading sessions.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Ulta Beauty Inc. (ULTA): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
Zacks Investment Research
