Ulta Sitting Pretty After Q4 Earnings Beat, $875M Buyback Plan Announced

Ulta Beauty Inc ULTA shares are moving higher after reporting a fourth-quarter earnings and sales beat.

Earnings came in at $3.61 per share, beating estimates by 6 cents. Sales came in at $2.12 billion, beating estimates by $10 million. The company issued full-year 2019 earnings guidance that fell in-line with analyst estimates.

"The Ulta Beauty team delivered excellent results in the fourth quarter," said CEO Mary Dillon. "This performance reflects an acceleration in comparable sales in our retail stores, primarily driven by traffic. We continued to gain significant share across all major categories, particularly with digitally native brands where Ulta Beauty is often the only point of distribution in brick and mortar.

"Solid execution by our merchandising, store operations, e-commerce, marketing, supply chain and systems teams drove healthy sales growth and a differentiated guest experience throughout the important holiday season."

Highlights

• Comp sales increased 9.4 percent
• Net sales increased 9.7 percent
• $875 million buyback plan was announced

Ulta shares were up 3.6 percent at $323.96 in the after-hours session. The stock closed at $312.51 per share.

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Ulta Beauty Q4 Earnings Preview

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