Ulta Beauty holiday sales up; raises Q4 outlook

Ulta Beauty posted strong holiday sales, helped by continued demand across all its categories, prompting the beauty retailer to raise its fourth-quarter outlook.

The Bolingbrook, Illinois-based company has been introducing new products and increasing promotions to attract beauty-conscious customers to its stores.

Holiday comparable store sales for the seven-week period from Nov. 13 rose 12.6 percent. Total sales in the period were up 24 percent at $386 million.

For the fourth quarter, Ulta Beauty, which sells cosmetics, fragrance, haircare and other beauty products, now expects earnings of 67 cents to 68 cents a share. It had earlier forecast 62 cents to 64 cents a share.

The company, whose rivals include Sally Beauty Holdings Inc and Regis Corp, raised its sales expectations for the quarter to $574 million to $579 million from $552 million to $562 million.

Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of 64 cents on revenue of $563 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

(Reporting by Ranjita Ganesan In Bangalore; Editing by Maju Samuel)