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Estée Lauder
stock was falling sharply Wednesday after the cosmetics company cut its fiscal-year outlook as headwinds in China are expected to persist.
Estée Lauder (ticker: EL) said on Wednesday it now anticipates fiscal 2024 sales to range from a decline of 2% to an increase of 1% from the prior year. In the company’s fiscal-fourth-quarter report in August, Estée Lauder said it estimated that sales would increase between 5% and 7% from the prior year.
The company cut its fiscal 2024 earnings-per-share outlook to range from $2.17 to $2.42, from $3.50 to $3.75.
“While we had a better-than-expected first quarter, we are lowering our fiscal 2024 outlook given incremental external headwinds, namely from the slower growth in overall prestige beauty in Asia travel retail and in mainland China,” CEO Fabrizio Freda said in the earnings release. Freda added that the ongoing war in the Middle East also was a risk to the business.
Estée Lauder stock was sinking 19% to $104.07 on Wednesday, and was on pace for its largest percentage decrease on record and lowest close since August 2017, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The stock has tumbled 58% so far this year.
The company also expects second-quarter revenue to decrease 9% to 11% from the previous year. Estimated earnings per share for the quarter of 48 cents to 58 cents were well below the FactSet consensus call of $1.21.
For the fiscal first quarter, Estée Lauder posted earnings of 11 cents a share on revenue of $3.52 billion. Analysts had expected a loss of 21 cents a share on revenue of $3.53 billion. In the year-ago period, Estée Lauder posted earnings per share of $1.37 on revenue of $3.94 billion.
“All the read thrus suggested China was weak, but we thought EL’s guidance last quarter accounted for the weakness. Clearly we were wrong,” RBC Capital Markets analyst Nik Modi wrote Wednesday. Modi rates the stock at Outperform with a $195 price target.
Write to Angela Palumbo at [email protected]
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