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Ulta Beauty (ULTA) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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Ulta Beauty (ULTA - Free Report) closed at $547.72 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.05% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 1.96% gain on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 1.57%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 3.03%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the beauty products retailer had gained 4.01% over the past month. This has outpaced the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 3.58% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.19% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Ulta Beauty as it approaches its next earnings report date. This is expected to be May 25, 2023. The company is expected to report EPS of $6.79, up 7.78% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $2.61 billion, up 11.16% from the prior-year quarter.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $25.24 per share and revenue of $11.07 billion, which would represent changes of +5.12% and +8.42%, respectively, from the prior year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Ulta Beauty. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.11% higher within the past month. Ulta Beauty is holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) right now.

Digging into valuation, Ulta Beauty currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 21.69. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 11.68.

Also, we should mention that ULTA has a PEG ratio of 1.77. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. Retail - Miscellaneous stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.88 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Retail - Miscellaneous industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 88, which puts it in the top 35% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


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