UPDATE: Estée Lauder Posts Upbeat Q3 Earnings, But Lowers Full-Year Forecast

The Estée Lauder Companies

reported better-than-expected earnings for the third quarter, but lowered its forecast for the year. The company now projects full-year earnings of $3.03 to $3.11 per share, versus its prior forecast of $3.10 to $3.20 per share. For the current quarter, Estée Lauder expects earnings of $1.01 to $1.05 per share, versus analysts' estimates of $1.23 per share. The New York-based company reported a quarterly profit of $228.1 million, or $0.59 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $300.7 million, or $0.76 per share. Its net sales slipped 1.8% to $2.63 billion. However, analysts were projecting earnings of $0.55 per share on revenue of $2.61 billion. The company's skin-care sales dropped 6.8% to $1.09 billion, while makeup sales gained 2% to $1.02 billion in the quarter. Fragrance sales increased 2.7% to $377.4 million, while hair-care sales rose 3% to $128.1 million. Sales dropped 1.3% in Asia, whole sales in the Americas slipped 7%. Fabrizio Freda, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “While our current business is solid, we recognize the recent challenges around the globe, including the strength of the U.S. dollar, geopolitical tensions and soft retail environments in certain important markets, like Hong Kong.” Estée Lauder shares fell 2.58% to $74.00 in pre-market trading.