“The third quarter represented another strong performance by the Ulta Beauty team, as sales, gross profit, and diluted EPS all exceeded our internal expectations. Our traffic trends remained healthy, our brand awareness increased, and we expanded our loyalty program to a record 42.2 million members,” said Dave Kimbell, chief executive officer. “As we look to the future, the outlook for the Beauty category is bright, and I am confident Ulta Beauty has the right plans in place to delight our guests this holiday season, expand our leadership position in specialty beauty retail, and deliver long-term shareholder growth.”
Third Quarter of Fiscal 2023 Compared to Third Quarter of Fiscal 2022
*Net sales increased 6.4% to $2.5 billion compared to $2.3 billion, primarily due to increased comparable sales, strong new store performance, and strong growth in other revenue.
*Comparable sales (sales for stores open at least 14 months and e-commerce sales) increased 4.5% compared to an increase of 14.6%, driven by a 5.9% increase in transactions and a 1.4% decrease in average ticket.
*Gross profit increased 3.0% to $992.1 million compared to $962.8 million. As a percentage of net sales, gross profit decreased to 39.9% compared to 41.2%, primarily due to lower merchandise margin, higher inventory shrink, and higher supply chain costs, partially offset by strong growth in other revenue.
*Operating income was $327.2 million, or 13.1% of net sales, compared to $361.9 million, or 15.5% of net sales.
*Net income was $249.5 million compared to $274.6 million.
details at: https://www.ulta.com/investor/news-events/press-releases/detail/176/ulta-beauty-announces-third-quarter-fiscal-2023-results