Ulta Beauty (ULTA) closed at $553.36 in the latest trading session, marking a +2.58% move from the prior day. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 1.2% gain on the day. On the other hand, the Dow registered a gain of 1.79%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq increased by 1.52%.
Shares of the beauty products retailer witnessed a gain of 1% over the previous month, trailing the performance of the Retail-Wholesale sector with its gain of 6.55%, and the S&P 500's gain of 5.15%.
Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Ulta Beauty in its upcoming release. The company is forecasted to report an EPS of $6.94, showcasing a 3.58% upward movement from the corresponding quarter of the prior year. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $3.08 billion, reflecting a 8.16% rise from the equivalent quarter last year.
In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $28.41 per share and a revenue of $13.22 billion, indicating changes of +10.8% and +6.67%, respectively, from the former 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. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the business health and profitability.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-term stock moves. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.01% lower. Ulta Beauty is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Looking at valuation, Ulta Beauty is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 18.99. This denotes a premium relative to the industry average Forward P/E of 16.
One should further note that ULTA currently holds a PEG ratio of 1.98. 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 average PEG ratio for the Retail - Miscellaneous industry stood at 1.8 at the close of the market yesterday.
The Retail - Miscellaneous industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 154, this industry ranks in the bottom 37% of all industries, numbering over 250.
The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
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Ulta Beauty Inc. (ULTA): Free Stock Analysis Report
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