By Sabrina Escobar

Ulta Beauty's fourth-quarter earnings barreled past analyst estimates, sending the stock higher in after-hour trading Thursday.

The cosmetics retailer's earnings of $8.46 a share for the quarter that ended Feb. 1 came in well ahead of analyst expectations for $7.13 a share, according to FactSet.

Net sales fell by 1.9% to $3.5 billion, largely in line with estimates.

Ulta stock gained 6.5% to $334.41 in the after-hour trading session. Investors chose to celebrate the strong quarter and shrugged off mixed guidance for the current fiscal year.

For the year ending next January, Ulta sees net sales ranging from $11.5 billion to $11.6 billion and earnings per share in the range of $22.50 to $22.90. Analysts had penciled in $23.51 a share on $11.7 billion in sales.

"Fiscal 2025 will be a pivotal year as we make purposeful investments to fuel our future growth and move quickly to optimize our business," said CEO Kecia Steelman. "While it will take time to see the impact of these efforts, we are confident these investments will help reignite our momentum and unlock sustained growth and long-term value for our shareholders."

This is Steelman's first quarter as Ulta's chief executive. She took over the role in January after then-CEO David Kimbell stepped down.

The stock is down 28% this year as of Thursday's close, weighed down by concerns that beauty demand is still normalizing after several years of higher-than-expected sales that followed the pandemic.

Write to Sabrina Escobar at sabrina.escobar@barrons.com

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March 13, 2025 16:38 ET (20:38 GMT)

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