Ulta Beauty (ULTA) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: Here's Why

Ulta Beauty (ULTA) closed the most recent trading day at $677.00, moving -1.14% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.04% gain on the day. On the other hand, the Dow registered a loss of 0.15%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq increased by 0.36%.

Coming into today, shares of the beauty products retailer had gained 5.78% in the past month. In that same time, the Retail-Wholesale sector lost 5.38%, while the S&P 500 lost 1.33%.

The upcoming earnings release of Ulta Beauty will be of great interest to investors. The company's earnings report is expected on March 12, 2026. The company is expected to report EPS of $7.98, down 5.67% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $3.83 billion, up 9.89% from the year-ago period.

ULTA's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $25.61 per share and revenue of $12.37 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +1.07% and +9.54%, respectively.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Ulta Beauty. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the business and profitability.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.06% lower. Currently, Ulta Beauty is carrying a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, Ulta Beauty is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 24.09. This expresses a premium compared to the average Forward P/E of 18.21 of its industry.

It's also important to note that ULTA currently trades at a PEG ratio of 3.19. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. The average PEG ratio for the Retail - Miscellaneous industry stood at 2.62 at the close of the market yesterday.

The Retail - Miscellaneous industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 75, which puts it in the top 31% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.