Estee Lauder (EL.US) experienced a sharp decline of nearly 20% during trading on Thursday, bringing its share price to $96.49. This drop occurred even as the stock had accumulated a 44% gain over the past year. The sell-off was triggered by the company's financial outlook. For its fiscal second quarter of 2026, Estee Lauder reported sales of $4.23 billion, which aligned with analyst projections. Additionally, adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.89, surpassing the consensus estimate of $0.83. However, the company is increasing marketing expenditures for brand revitalization efforts while continuing to manage cost pressures from tariffs. These factors are putting a squeeze on profitability and have negatively impacted the full-year earnings forecast. The company now anticipates full-year net sales growth in the range of 3% to 5%, with a midpoint of 4% that falls short of the analyst expectation of 4.3%. The guidance for adjusted earnings per share was set between $2.05 and $2.25, and the midpoint of $2.15 is also below the anticipated $2.16.