Ulta Beauty and e.l.f. Beauty reverse post-earnings selloff as buyers return Monday
Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ: ULTA) and e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE: ELF) are in focus Monday, reversing a post-earnings slide that followed clean quarterly beats and raised full-year outlooks. ULTA is up 4% to $538 and ELF is climbing…
Key takeaways
- Ulta Beauty (ULTA) is up 4% to $538 and e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) is up 5% to $108.92 on Monday, reversing a post-earnings selloff despite a softer market session.
- Ulta's Q2 2026 report beat estimates with net income of $282 million ($6.55 per share versus $6.20 consensus) and revenue of $3.04 billion, and comparable sales rose 3.8% against a modeled 2.3%.
- Ulta raised its full-year guidance, lifting EPS to $28.70-$29, annual sales growth to 6.7%-7.2%, and comp sales to 3.2%-3.7%.
- Target (TGT) is down 1% to $161.52 after its Ulta shop-in-shop partnership ended in August, and Target is rolling out its own Beauty Studio concept across more than 600 stores.
- Heading into Monday's close, ULTA's first test is reclaiming its pre-earnings level of $544.99 while ELF traders watch the $105 level.
Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ: ULTA) and e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE: ELF) are in focus Monday, reversing a post-earnings slide that followed clean quarterly beats and raised full-year outlooks. ULTA is up 4% to $538 and ELF is climbing 5% to $108.92, both outpacing a softer session: the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA: SPY) is down 0.46% to $765.80 and the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (NYSEARCA: XRT) is slipping 0.2% to $86.72. The setup reads like targeted sector rotation, and the first test for ULTA is whether shares can reclaim the pre-earnings level of $544.99.
The numbers
Ulta Beauty's Q2 2026 report cleared on both lines. Net income came in at $282 million, or $6.55 per share, above the $6.20 consensus and $260.9 million a year earlier. Revenue of $3.04 billion outpaced the $2.99 billion estimate, and comparable sales rose 3.8% against the 2.3% analysts had modeled. Management raised full-year EPS guidance to $28.70 to $29 from $28.36 to $28.80, lifted annual sales growth guidance to 6.7% to 7.2% from 6% to 7%, and raised comp sales guidance to 3.2% to 3.7% from 2.5% to 3.5%. CEO Kecia Steelman said the company is executing with discipline and translating its Ulta Beauty Unleashed strategy into tangible benefits for guests. Still, ULTA fell 4% to $517.18 on Friday.
Part of Monday's advance is attributed in reporting to an analyst upgrade, though the upgrading firm is unconfirmed and not being named. That adds a momentum layer without a verifiable thesis. The starting points for buyers differ sharply: ULTA was down 14% year to date through Friday's close, while ELF carried a 37% gain over the same stretch. Similar session pops carry different meaning for each name.
Target (NYSE: TGT) forms the third piece of the read. TGT is down 1% to $161.52 today, even after finishing Friday up 71% year to date. The Ulta Beauty shop-in-shop arrangement inside Target stores ended in August after both companies chose not to renew it, and Target is now rolling out its own Beauty Studio concept across more than 600 stores with dedicated beauty advisers. Target sliding while both beauty pure-plays recover gives a preliminary read on where beauty share may be migrating now that the partnership is closed.
ELF holders can watch the $105 level into the close. The next scheduled milestone for Ulta Beauty is its Q3 report, and ELF's next quarterly release will test whether its raised fiscal 2027 outlook is translating into sustained sell-through.
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Filed via finance.yahoo.com