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Increasing sales make for a pretty Q4 for Ulta

Consumers didn't pull back on buying up beauty items at the end of 2015.

March 18, 2016

Consumers may not have been buying lots of warm clothing during December and January given the unusual warmer temps but they were buying beauty products.

One benefactor was Ulta Beauty which saw total sales increase 21.1 percent and comparables sale increase 12.5 percent in Q4 2015. Given the sales trend Ulta is predicting 18 percent to 20 percent earnings per share growth in 2016, according to a press announcement.

"Our fourth quarter results capped an exceptional year during which we made significant progress against our strategic imperatives, while achieving outstanding sales and earnings growth. We continue to benefit from the powerful combination of strong demand in the beauty category and Ulta Beauty's highly differentiated offering that propels our business to transcend prevailing trends across the retail landscape," said Mary Dillon, Ulta CEO, in the announcement.

Net sales jumped 21.1 percent and retail comparables sales increased 10.4 percent.

The financials regarding Ulta's online business is even rosier as ecommerce sales grew 44.2 percent.

During 2015 the nation's largest beauty retailer opened 100 net new stores as well as its fourth distribution center. It ended Q4 with 847 stores total.

Looking ahead the 25-year-old brand hopes to boost ecommerce sales at the same 40 percent growth rate, plans to remodel 12 locations and expects to fund a rollout of "prestige brand boutiques" and enhancements to its beauty collection brand and fragrant fixtures in hundreds of its stores.