Ulta Beauty Inc. on May 31 raised its EPS outlook for the full year 2018 after reporting posting better-than-expected sales and earnings growth for the fiscal first quarter.
The beauty products retailer now expects GAAP EPS to grow in the low twenties percentage range for the full fiscal year, compared to previous guidance of approximately 20%. The company continues to expect total sales for the 12-month period to increase in the "low teens" percentage range.
For the second quarter, Ulta Beauty expects diluted EPS to come in between $2.35 and $2.40 and net sales to be in the range of $1.47 billion to $1.49 billion. Comparable sales, including e-commerce sales, are forecast to rise 6% to 7%.
The guidance change comes after the company saw net income for the first quarter climb 28.2% to $164.4 million from $128.2 million in the same period last year. Earnings per diluted share also grew 31.7% to $2.70 compared to $2.05 in the first quarter of 2017, beating the S&P Capital IQ mean consensus estimate of $2.48 for normalized EPS.
Net sales also increased 17.4% year-over-year to $1.54 billion from $1.31 billion. The company previously said it expected net sales for the first quarter to be in the range of $1.51 billion to $1.52 billion.
Ulta Beauty opened 34 stores and closed one store during the quarter, bringing its total number of stores at the end of the period to 1,107.
