Q2 Sales Soar 20.6% to $1.3 Billion at Ulta Beauty

Ulta Beauty, Inc. posted financial results for the second quarter and first six months ended July 29, 2017. During the second quarter of fiscal 2017 alone, the company opened 20 stores in the US.

Net sales increased 20.6% to $1.3 billion for Q2; comparable sales (sales for stores open at least 14 months and e-commerce sales) increased 11.7%;
retail comparable sales grew 8.3%, including salon comparable sales growth of 7.7%; salon sales leaped 15.3% to $68.0 million; e-commerce sales grew 72.3% to $96.3 million. Net income rose 26.9% to $114.2 million.

For the first six months, net sales increased 21.6% to $2.6 billion; comparable sales jumped 13.0%; retail comparable sales increased 9.6%, including salon comparable sales growth of 8.8%; salon sales rose 16.0% to $136.8 million from $117.9 million in the first six months of fiscal 2016; e-commerce comparable sales grew 71.6% to $200.6 million.
 
For the third quarter of fiscal 2017, the company currently expects net sales in the range of $1.3-$1.4 billion.
 
“The Ulta Beauty team delivered another quarter of excellent performance with strong top line growth coupled with robust margin expansion,” said Chief Executive Officer Mary Dillon. “We accelerated our market share gains while continuing to reduce promotional intensity and increase personalized offers through our industry leading loyalty program. Product category strength was broad based, with prestige cosmetics still driving the majority of our growth, and with skin care, fragrance and hair care all gaining momentum. We are also benefitting from continued success of our marketing programs, rapid growth in e-commerce, and solid operational execution across the enterprise.”