DA Davidson Issues Negative Outlook for Ulta Beauty Earnings

Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) – Equities research analysts at DA Davidson reduced their Q1 2026 earnings per share estimates for shares of Ulta Beauty in a report issued on Thursday, April 17th. DA Davidson analyst M. Baker now expects that the specialty retailer will post earnings of $5.62 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $5.76. DA Davidson currently has a “Buy” rating and a $415.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Ulta Beauty’s current full-year earnings is $23.96 per share. DA Davidson also issued estimates for Ulta Beauty’s FY2026 earnings at $22.51 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $25.83 EPS.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $480.00 to $475.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. B. Riley decreased their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $430.00 to $330.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $360.00 to $310.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Ulta Beauty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $384.00 to $423.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $445.00 to $327.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $427.61.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

NASDAQ ULTA opened at $357.75 on Friday. Ulta Beauty has a 1 year low of $309.01 and a 1 year high of $460.00. The company has a market cap of $16.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.32, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.16. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $357.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $382.26.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $8.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.13 by $1.33. The business had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.47 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 51.95%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $8.08 EPS.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $369.16, for a total value of $332,982.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,632 shares in the company, valued at $2,817,429.12. The trade was a 10.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 121.4% during the fourth quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Ulta Beauty by 151.5% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its position in Ulta Beauty by 218.5% in the 1st quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 86 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, North Star Investment Management Corp. grew its position in Ulta Beauty by 71.4% in the 1st quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 96 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Company Profile

Ulta Beauty, Inc operates as a specialty beauty retailer in the United States. The company offers branded and private label beauty products, including cosmetics, fragrance, haircare, skincare, bath and body products, professional hair products, and salon styling tools through its Ulta Beauty stores, shop-in-shops, Ulta.com website, and its mobile applications.