By Connor Hart

Estee Lauder widened its loss in its fiscal fourth quarter as sales continued to struggle, sending shares lower in premarket trading Wednesday.

The beauty company behind MAC, Smashbox and Jo Malone posted a loss of $546 million, or $1.51 a share, for its three months ended June 30, compared with a loss of $284 million, or 79 cents a share, a year earlier.

Estee Lauder noted that its bottom line was hurt by a $527 million restructuring and asset impairment charge, as well as a $172 million deferred tax asset valuation allowance adjustment in the U.S.

Stripping out one-time items, adjusted earnings were 9 cents a share, in line with Wall Street expectations, according to FactSet.

Revenue fell 12% to $3.41 billion, but narrowly topped the $3.39 billion that analysts had expected.

Sales were down 16% in its skin care business, its largest by revenue, and 11% in its makeup division, its second largest top-line contributor. Both were hurt by ongoing challenges in the retail market in Asia, the company said.

Hair care sales fell 15%, which Estee Lauder largely attributed to ongoing brick-and-mortar challenges in North America. These declines were slightly offset by fragrance sales, up 4% on the company's luxury brands.

Chief Executive Stéphane de La Faverie said volatility in the external environment continues to affect the company. Still, he noted signs of momentum and said the company expects to grow its sales in its current fiscal year.

In fiscal 2026, the New York-based company projected top-line growth of 2% to 5%. Analysts are looking for sales of $14.69 billion, marking a 2.6% increase from the previous year.

Earnings are expected to come in between $1.63 and $1.87 a share, or between $1.87 and $2.07 a share when adjusted for one-time items and foreign currency translation. Wall Street modeled earnings of $1.80 a share, and adjusted earnings of $2.20 a share.

Shares fell 11% to $80.

Write to Connor Hart at connor.hart@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 20, 2025 06:36 ET (10:36 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.