In the latest trading session, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) closed at $452.49, marking a -1.92% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.72% gain on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow saw an upswing of 0.3%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq appreciated by 1.12%.
Shares of the beauty products retailer witnessed a loss of 1.23% over the previous month, trailing the performance of the Retail-Wholesale sector with its loss of 0.64%, and the S&P 500's loss of 0.9%.
The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Ulta Beauty in its forthcoming earnings report. The company is expected to report EPS of $6.16, up 6.57% from the prior-year quarter. Alongside, our most recent consensus estimate is anticipating revenue of $2.97 billion, indicating a 6.4% upward movement from the same quarter last year.
In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $28.67 per share and a revenue of $13.21 billion, indicating changes of +11.82% and +6.61%, respectively, from the former year.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Ulta Beauty. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the business and profitability.
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 ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 0.19% upward. 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 16.09 right now. This signifies a premium in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 15.56 for its industry.
It's also important to note that ULTA currently trades at a PEG ratio of 1.44. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The Retail - Miscellaneous was holding an average PEG ratio of 2.06 at yesterday's closing price.
The Retail - Miscellaneous industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 77, which puts it in the top 32% 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.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
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Ulta Beauty Inc. (ULTA): Free Stock Analysis Report
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