Shares of E.l.f. Beauty tanked after the beauty company issued guidance for the year below Wall Street's expectations, as uncertainty swirls around the American consumer.
Chief Executive Tarang Amin said that expectations for the company were dialed up a bit too high in the absence of the company providing guidance.
"We weren't able to issue guidance the prior two quarters, mainly because of the uncertainty of tariffs," he said. "And so it doesn't surprise me, without guidance, people can get away from you, get ahead of you, but we're very proud of the guidance we are issuing."
For the year, E.l.f. expects adjusted earnings per share of $2.80 to $2.85 and sales up 18% to 20%, to a range of $1.55 billion to $1.57 billion. Analysts forecast adjusted earnings of $3.53 a share on revenue of $1.65 billion.
Amin said that the guidance for sales growth is higher than its competitors and its profit outlook is strong given higher tariff-related costs.
Shares fell 22% to $92.42 in late trading. Through Wednesday's close, the stock had dropped about 6.2% this year.
The guidance comes as the company logged 14% higher sales in its latest quarter as it gained market share across both high- and low-income consumers in the quarter, Amin said.
Such customers haven't been swayed by a $1 price increase, given 75% of e.l.f.'s products are still $10 or less, Amin said. The higher prices, implemented in August to mitigate the impacts of tariff and inflation, are still more accessible than those of competitors, he said.
"I think everyone's still worried about the American consumer," Amin said. "There's so much uncertainty on inflation, on tariffs, but what I would tell you is consumers are being choosy, but they're choosing E.l.f."
E.l.f.'s recent quarterly results also got a boost from its acquisition of Hailey Bieber's cosmetics and skin-care line, Rhode, which closed in August. The brand has rapidly gained shelf space after launching in Sephora's North America stores in September, and will roll out to locations across the U.K. next week, Amin said.
E.l.f. forecasts that Rhode will bring in $200 million in sales this fiscal year, which translates to an annual run rate of $300 million. Amin said the brand has room to grow internationally, given a majority of Hailey Bieber's fans are located outside of the U.S.
"We believe there's incredible pent-up demand for Rhode, not only in North America, in the U.K., but certainly outside of the U.S. as well," Amin said.
For the fiscal second quarter, E.l.f. posted a profit of $3 million, or 5 cents a share, compared with $19 million, or 33 cents a share, a year earlier.
Adjusted earnings per share were 68 cents, ahead of estimates of 57 cents a share, according to analysts polled by FactSet.
Sales rose to $343.9 million, below the $365.8 million expected by analysts.