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Operates the largest US beauty specialty retail chain, selling cosmetics, skincare, haircare and salon services under one roof.
Operates the largest US beauty specialty retail chain, selling cosmetics, skincare, haircare and salon services under one roof.
Sells beauty products in its own stores and online, with salon services drawing visitors, and most sales run through its Ultamate Rewards loyalty program, which lets it track customers and send offers. A shop-in-shop deal with Target, begun in 2021, extends its brand into Target's stores. Sephora, which sits in Kohl's stores, is its main rival.
Moat: narrow (brand, installed base, distribution). Unique one-stop mass-plus-prestige beauty assortment and a large loyalty program base, though Sephora/Amazon competition is intensifying.
Headquarters: Bolingbrook, Illinois, United States · Founded: 1990 · Employees: 65,000
Size Ulta Beauty (ULTA) is a United States Consumer Discretionary company (Specialty Stores) with a market value of $27.6B, the 392nd largest of 3,117 United States companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at $644.76 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares gained 23.6%, against +18.6% for the median peer and -1.1% for the United States market (cap-weighted) — 7th highest of 17 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue grew 11.2% over the last twelve months (peer median +7.6%); the operating margin is 12.6% (peer median 7.5%).
Valuation It trades at 21.1× forward earnings against a peer median of 18.6× (7th most expensive of 17).
Price implies For today's price to make sense, revenue must grow about 7% a year for seven years (Req g). Recent delivered growth is +15%, so the hurdle is -8 pp: the price already allows for a slowdown.
Capital Return on invested capital runs 17.3 points above its cost of capital (8.7% WACC).
Short interest Short interest is 5.0% of the free float (15 Oct 2026).
Next results Next results expected around 3 Dec 2026 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $13.0B | $12.4B | $11.3B | $11.2B | $10.2B |
| Revenue growth | — | +10% | +1% | +10% | — |
| Gross profit | $5.09B | $4.85B | $4.39B | $4.38B | $4.04B |
| EBITDA | $1.95B | $1.85B | $1.85B | $1.93B | $1.89B |
| Net income | $1.21B | $1.15B | $1.20B | $1.29B | $1.24B |
| Free cash flow | $1.15B | $1.07B | $960M | $1.04B | $1.17B |
| Capital expenditure | $418M | $435M | $374M | $435M | $312M |
| Total debt | $2.52B | $2.18B | $1.92B | $1.91B | $1.90B |
The default views of Competitor Analysis ▸ Charts, drawn from the same data. Open them in the cockpit to change the axes, pin companies and read every value.
| Company | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ulta Beauty ULTA | $27.6B | +24% | +11% | 13% | 21.1× | 7.1% |
| Sally Beauty SBH | $1.71B | +31% | +1% | 9% | 8.3× | -2.6% |
| e.l.f. Beauty ELF | $6.85B | +91% | +31% | 12% | 35.4× | 27.9% |
| Target TGT | $72.0B | +28% | +2% | 6% | 17.1× | 4.1% |
Peer set: Industry: the same industry and sector in any market, nearest in size. This is the same default set the interactive Competitor Analysis opens with.
| Measure | ULTA | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | +14.3% | +6.3% | 2nd highest of 17 |
| 6-month return | +23.6% | +18.6% | 7th highest of 17 |
| Distance from 52-week high | -9.8% | -15.3% | 6th highest of 17 |
| Revenue growth (TTM) | +11.2% | +7.6% | 6th highest of 17 |
| Operating margin | 12.6% | 7.5% | 7th highest of 17 |
| Forward P/E | 21.1× | 18.6× | 7th most expensive of 17 |
| Growth the price implies (Req g, 7 yrs) | 7.1% | 4.1% | 7th most demanding of 17 |
| Growth delivered (Del g) | +15.0% | +7.4% | 3rd highest of 17 |
| Hurdle (Req g minus delivered) | -7.9 pp | -3.8 pp | 5th least demanding of 17 |
| ROIC minus cost of capital | +17.3 pp | +5.2 pp | 5th highest of 16 |
| EV / EBITDA | 15.3× | 13.5× | 5th most expensive of 14 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 1.2× | 2.3× | 5th least indebted of 17 |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g | Delivered g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ulta Beauty ULTA | United States | $27.6B | +24% | +11% | 13% | 21.1× | 7.1% | +15.0% |
| Williams-Sonoma WSM | United States | $29.9B | +40% | +2% | 19% | 25.6× | 15.4% | +2.9% |
| Tractor Supply TSCO | United States | $18.9B | +20% | +4% | 9% | 18.0× | 4.1% | +7.9% |
| Wayfair W | United States | $15.3B | +69% | +8% | 2% | 29.6× | 47.7% | -2.5% |
| AutoZone AZO | United States | $51.8B | -8% | +7% | 18% | 19.0× | -2.8% | +6.8% |
| Alimentation Couche-Tard ATD.TO | Canada | $54.5B | +5% | +12% | 6% | 18.3× | 1.3% | +12.0% |
| Penske Automotive PAG | United States | $13.9B | +22% | +6% | 3% | 15.2× | 12.6% | +9.2% |
| BJ's Wholesale Club BJ | United States | $13.8B | +18% | +9% | 4% | 22.4× | -0.7% | +6.8% |
| Dick's Sporting Goods DKS | United States | $12.5B | -35% | +54% | 6% | 11.8× | 8.7% | +12.4% |
| Nitori 9843.T | Japan | $11.7B | +47% | 0% | 13% | 20.0× | 2.7% | +4.9% |
| Carrefour CA.PA | France | $11.1B | -21% | -8% | 3% | 8.4× | -1.2% | +3.1% |
| O’Reilly Automotive ORLY | United States | $72.3B | -3% | +9% | 20% | 25.2× | 4.1% | +8.9% |
| Sanrio 8136.T | Japan | $9.78B | +33% | +28% | 39% | 22.4× | 1.9% | +36.4% |
| Murphy USA MUSA | United States | $9.45B | -10% | +20% | 4% | 17.5× | -9.4% | +11.5% |
| Carvana CVNA | United States | $81.2B | -6% | +50% | 9% | 35.9× | 43.6% | +29.5% |
| CarMax KMX | United States | $7.31B | +28% | +4% | 2% | 15.5× | 17.6% | +6.7% |
| Pepco Group BV PCO.WA | Poland | $7.18B | +58% | -42% | 15% | 16.8× | 4.6% | +4.5% |