(Bloomberg) -- Ulta Beauty Inc.’s shares surged after the beauty retailer reported better-than-expected results in the most recent quarter and raised the lower-end of its full year outlook for the remainder of the year.
The company’s shares rose more than 11% in post-market trading in New York on Thursday.
Wall Street had expected the retailer to have a weak quarter due to increased competition from Sephora, owned by LVMH, as well as Walmart Inc., Target Corp. and Amazon.com Inc., which have all boosted their beauty offerings in the past year to meet robust consumer demand.
Some analysts had also expressed concerns that Ulta started its holiday discounts too early this year. They worried that might ding Ulta’s annual outlook.
Instead, the company beat expectations, reporting earnings per share in the third quarter of $5.14, compared to the estimate of $4.53. The beauty retailer also reported stronger-than-expected comparable sales. Some of that was driven by an increase in the number of sales, while the average ticket price was basically flat versus a year earlier.
The solid quarterly performance led Ulta to narrow the targets of its full-year outlook. The company now sees net sales in the current fiscal year between $11.1 billion to $11.2 billion. Previously, it was expecting a range between $11 billion to $11.2 billion.
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