Ulta Beauty reported fourth-quarter fiscal 2025 results on March 12, 2026: net sales rose 11.8% year over year to roughly $3.9 billion, comparable sales grew 5.8%, and full-year sales reached $12.4 billion, up 9.7%, per the company's release and Reuters coverage the same day. The quarter beat the company's own guidance — yet the stock story is caution, because fiscal 2026 guidance of 6% to 7% sales growth came with a profit forecast below Wall Street estimates on rising advertising costs.
How strong was the quarter, really?
Strong on the top line: comparable sales of 5.8% for a retailer of Ulta's size is a very good end to a fiscal year, driven by traffic and by strength across fragrance and skin care, per the company's results commentary. Full-year net sales of $12,392.8 million, against $11,295.7 million a year earlier, confirm that mass-plus-prestige beauty retail kept expanding even as consumers stayed picky elsewhere. Net income, per Reuters, fell about 9.3% — the cost of winning those sales, particularly marketing, ate into the margin.
Why is guidance cautious despite the beat?
Because growth is costing more to buy. Per Reuters on March 12, 2026, Ulta forecast fiscal 2026 net sales growth of 6% to 7% — above analysts' consensus — but annual profit below Street estimates, citing advertising costs. In plain terms: customer acquisition in beauty, where social commerce sets the pace, now demands sustained media spend. The company guided diluted EPS of $28.05 to $28.55 and comparable sales growth of 2.5% to 3.5%, a normalization from the fiscal 2025 pace rather than a retrenchment, and management framed it as disciplined investment rather than weakening demand.
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What does this mean for the beauty shelf?
Ulta's numbers are the industry's clearest demand signal, since the chain spans drugstore to prestige under one roof. Three readings stand out for shoppers and brands alike: fragrance remains the category engine; wellness-adjacent skin care keeps its post-pandemic footing; and retailers are competing harder for attention, which historically flows through to promotions and loyalty perks. Rivals — Sephora at Kohl's, Amazon's prestige push — are all spending against the same customer, which is precisely why margins, not demand, are the pressure point in prestige beauty this year, given the advertising costs management itself flagged in the guidance.
How should readers use these numbers?
As context, not prophecy. Quarterly results describe one company's fiscal calendar — Ulta's fourth quarter ran through late January 2026 — and management guidance is a forecast, subject to revision. For anyone tracking the beauty economy in New York, where Ulta operates alongside flagship-heavy prestige retail, the useful takeaway from March 12 is this: Americans did not stop buying beauty in 2025; the fight over where they buy it simply got more expensive.