Estee Lauder Companies Beats Estimates

For the first quarter, Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE: EL) saw a rise in net income, beating Wall Street expectations. To gain insight into why the company reported as it did, investors might review the company's industry, financials, and commentary.

Earnings and Revenue:
Estee Lauder Companies managed to exceed Wall Street estimates with stronger-than-expected EPS and revenues. The company reported EPS of $1.40/share versus the $1.18/share estimate and revenues of $2.48 billion versus the $2.41 billion estimate. EPS rose 47.4% while revenue climbed 18.4% from the same period last year.
Last quarter marked the third in a row of rising net income. Estee Lauder Companies has averaged revenue growth of 14.2% over the past five quarters.

Income:
For the year, Estee Lauder Companies reported net income of $4.13/share. The company trumped analyst projections of $3.44 by 20.1%. According to the reported number, the company's income rose 45.8% from last year's levels.

Official Comment:
Fabrizio Freda, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "Our very strong Company performance continued to be broad based, highlighted by healthy top line growth across all categories and regions, strong bottom line growth and continued margin expansion. These results reflect the strength of our brands, the appeal of our superior product innovations and the effectiveness of our focused advertising and marketing spending. The recent economic uncertainty and financial market volatility have not significantly impacted our business. The strength of our underlying fundamentals, our winning strategy and the increasing efficiency of our business model enabled us to significantly outperform the beauty industry and continue to report exceptional results."

Industry:
The cosmetics company's industry is currently enjoying price/earnings growth of 1.1%.

What to Do Next:
Now you can make a better-informed decision about whether to buy, sell or hold Estee Lauder Companies shares until the next earnings announcement. Whatever you do, be sure to check back in with us before the company's next earnings release for a full prep sheet, just like the one we did here.

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