Ulta Beauty executives said the company is seeing continued resilience in consumer beauty spending and has raised its full-year outlook after exceeding prior guidance in the second quarter. Speaking at a Barclays conference, President and Chief Executive Officer Kecia Steelman said fragrance is among Ulta's fastest-growing categories and that the company aims to become the No. 1 fragrance retailer in the U.S., while wellness, a $400 billion category growing faster than beauty, could become Ulta's next billion-dollar category. Ulta ended its Target partnership in mid-August, and Steelman said prestige brands involved in the relationship have returned to the Ulta ecosystem, giving the company an opportunity to recapture sales that the partnership had initially cannibalized. Chief Financial Officer Chris DelOrefice said average spending per loyalty member rose in the second quarter, with no material demand changes across age groups or income cohorts, and that the company increased its planned annual share repurchases to $1.8 billion while targeting modest operating-margin improvement. Ulta's loyalty program has 47 million members, with 95% of sales coming through members, and stores account for 80% of sales while online represents 20%.
Ulta Beauty IncUlta raised its full-year outlook and increased planned annual share repurchases to $1.8 billion
Target CorporationUlta ended its Target partnership in mid-August, removing the beauty offering from Target's stores
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