Ulta Beauty Profit Tops Estimates, Stock Up - Update

(RTTNews) - Ulta Beauty (ULTA) Thursday reported a 28 percent jump in second-quarter profit as the beauty products retailer added brands, expanded the Clinique and Lancôme boutiques, and as well driven by online sales. Both earnings and revenue for the quarter topped Wall Street estimates.

The company provided a soft outlook for the third quarter, but reaffirmed its expectations for 2013. The results boosted investor sentiment, sending Ulta Beauty shares to a new high for the year, rallying 11 percent in after-hours trade on the Nasdaq.

Ulta Beauty has been enriching its brand portfolio and enhancing online sales. In July, the company roped in Mary Dillon as chief executive officer, in place of Chuck Rubin. Dillon, who earlier served as CEO of U.S. Cellular, has expertise in distribution and sales initiatives, omni-channel strategy, and e-commerce platforms.

For the second quarter, Ulta Beauty posted quarterly net income of $45 million or $0.70 per share, compared with $35 million or $0.54 per share last year.

On average, 13 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated earnings of $0.67 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

The Bolingbrook, Illinois-based company's sales were up about 25 percent to $601 million from $482 million in the prior year. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $588.37 million for the quarter.

On a same store basis, sales for the quarter were up 8.4 percent.

The company added 39 Clinique boutiques to end the quarter with 90 stores featuring Clinique, while its Lancome boutiques totaled 85.

For the third quarter, Ulta Beauty expect earnings in the range of $0.71 to $0.74 per share on sales of $613 million to $623 million. Analysts currently expect earnings of $0.76 per share on sales of $618.70 million.

For fiscal 2013, the company continues to estimate earnings-per-share growth at the low end of its long term target of 25 to 30 percent, including the impact of about $0.13 per share in incremental investments.

Ulta Beauty shares closed Thursday at $100.3, down $1.85 or 1.81%, on a volume of 1 million shares. In after hours, the stock gained $11.07 or 11.04% at $111.38. In the past 52-week period, the stock trended in a range of $72.51 - $106.89.