Retail Dive
Ulta, usually a top performer, unexpectedly lowered its guidance for fiscal 2019 on Thursday, citing "headwinds" in the U.S. cosmetics market, according to a company press release. CEO Mary Dillon said on a conference call with analysts that the cosmetics category, which makes up about 50% of the retailer's business, failed to live up to the company's expectations for the period, according to a Seeking Alpha transcript.
Nevertheless, net sales at the retailer rose 12% in the second quarter to $1.67 billion, compared to $1.49 billion in the year-ago period. Comparable sales also increased 6.2%, thanks to growth in the number and size of transactions, but down slightly from a 6.5% increase a year ago.. . . more
