Shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. tanked late Thursday after the retailer posted quarterly earnings above Wall Street expectations but its sales growth slowed year-on-year. The company said it earned $114 million, or $1.83 a share, in the second quarter, compared with $90 million, or $1.43 a share, in the second quarter of 2016. Sales rose 21% to $1.29 billion, from $1.07 billion a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected earnings of $1.78 a share on sales of $1.28 billion. Comparable-store sales rose 12%, in line with Wall Street expectations but compared to an increase of 14% in the second quarter of 2016. Ulta said it expects net sales in the range of $1.33 billion to $1.35 billion for the third quarter, which would be up from $1.13 billion in the third quarter of fiscal 2016. Comparable sales for the third quarter of 2017, including e-commerce sales, are expected to increase 9% to 11%. The company reported a comparable sales increase of 16.7% in the third quarter of 2016. For full-year fiscal 2017, the company aimed for comparable-store sales growth between 10% and 11%, compared with a previous guidance of growth between 9% and 10%. Shares ended the trading day up 0.7%.
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