Zacks Research Has Weak Forecast for Ulta Beauty Q1 Earnings

Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) – Zacks Research dropped their Q1 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Ulta Beauty in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, April 1st. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now expects that the specialty retailer will post earnings per share of $5.73 for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $6.23. The consensus estimate for Ulta Beauty’s current full-year earnings is $23.96 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Ulta Beauty’s Q2 2026 earnings at $4.87 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $4.56 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $22.81 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $6.71 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $5.68 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $5.72 EPS, Q4 2027 earnings at $7.43 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $25.54 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $28.08 EPS.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $8.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.13 by $1.33. The business had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.47 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 51.95% and a net margin of 10.58%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $8.08 EPS.

ULTA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. StockNews.com raised Ulta Beauty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $510.00 to $415.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Ulta Beauty from $405.00 to $365.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $400.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $427.61.

Ulta Beauty Trading Up 2.3 %

Ulta Beauty stock opened at $382.51 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.34. Ulta Beauty has a 1-year low of $309.01 and a 1-year high of $474.12. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $371.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $386.30.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,199,935 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $520,587,000 after purchasing an additional 11,205 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter valued at $430,674,000. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 655,561 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $285,123,000 after buying an additional 9,291 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 562,155 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $244,498,000 after acquiring an additional 72,004 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter valued at $239,432,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In other news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.16, for a total value of $332,982.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,817,429.12. This trade represents a 10.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Company Profile

Ulta Beauty, Inc operates as a specialty beauty retailer in the United States. The company offers branded and private label beauty products, including cosmetics, fragrance, haircare, skincare, bath and body products, professional hair products, and salon styling tools through its Ulta Beauty stores, shop-in-shops, Ulta.com website, and its mobile applications.