In the latest close session, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) was down 1.22% at $619.25. The stock's change was less than the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.28%. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a rise of 0.19%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw an increase of 0.27%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the beauty products retailer had gained 14.42% outpaced the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 3.13% and the S&P 500's loss of 0.2%.
Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Ulta Beauty in its upcoming release. The company plans to announce its earnings on December 3, 2026. On that day, Ulta Beauty is projected to report earnings of $5.6 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 8.95%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $2.99 billion, up 4.54% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $28.95 per share and a revenue of $13.27 billion, demonstrating changes of +12.91% and +7.06%, respectively, from the preceding year.
Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for Ulta Beauty. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the business outlook.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To capitalize on this, we've crafted the Zacks Rank, a unique model that incorporates these estimate changes and offers a practical rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has remained steady. Ulta Beauty is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Ulta Beauty has a Forward P/E ratio of 21.66 right now. This signifies a premium in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 16.1 for its industry.
It's also important to note that ULTA currently trades at a PEG ratio of 1.87. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. ULTA's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.87 as of yesterday's close.
The Retail - Miscellaneous industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 28, positioning it in the top 12% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank evaluates the power of our distinct industry groups by determining the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks forming the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Don't forget to use Zacks.com to keep track of all these stock-moving metrics, and others, in the upcoming trading sessions.
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Ulta Beauty Inc. (ULTA): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).