Ulta Beauty, Inc. (ULTA)

Ulta Beauty reported net sales of $3.0 billion for the second quarter of fiscal 2026, up 8.9 percent 2. Comparable sales, which measure sales at stores and online platforms after their first year, rose 3.8 percent 2.

The company said the growth came mainly from stronger comparable sales, the Space NK acquisition and new stores 2. Operating income rose 10.1 percent to $379.6 million 2. Diluted earnings per share were $6.55, against $5.78 a year earlier 2.

Gross margin, the share of each sales dollar left after the cost of goods, slipped to 39.1 percent from 39.2 percent, which the company put down to the mix of Space NK's business 2.

Chief executive Kecia Steelman said the quarter showed the Ulta Beauty Unleashed strategy working for guests, and the company raised its fiscal 2026 outlook 2. It now expects net sales growth of 6.7 percent to 7.2 percent and diluted earnings per share of $28.70 to $29.00 2.

The open question is how much the newer businesses add, since the annual report names wellness, an online marketplace, international expansion and a retail media network as the initiatives it believes can add growth 1.

Ulta was founded in Illinois in 1990 as a beauty retailer, at a time when prestige products sat in department stores, mass products in drug stores and professional hair care in salons 1. Its idea was to offer all three, plus a salon, in one store 1.

The company dates its modern strategy to December 1999, when Lyn Kirby joined as chief executive and began research on what women wanted from a beauty retailer 8. By 31 January 2009 it ran 311 stores in 36 states, and fiscal 2008 net sales grew 18.9 percent to $1,084.6 million 8.

Mary Dillon became chief executive on 1 July 2013 9. In fiscal 2013 net sales rose 20.3 percent to $2,670.6 million, helped by 125 net new stores 9.

Fortune reported that under Dillon the store count nearly doubled to 1,264, e-commerce became a massive business, and annual sales more than tripled to a peak of $7.4 billion in 2019 7.

In fiscal 2019 net sales rose 10.1 percent to $7,398.1 million, helped by 80 net new stores and a 5.0 percent rise in comparable sales 10. That year the company announced its first foreign market, Canada 10. Retail Dive reported that Ulta dropped the Canada plan a year later to focus on its U.S. operations 4.

The pandemic broke the run, and on 19 March 2020 the company temporarily closed all stores across the U.S. 11. Net sales fell 16.8 percent to $6.2 billion in fiscal 2020, and comparable sales fell 17.9 percent 11.

In the same report the company described a long-term partnership with Target to open Ulta Beauty at Target, a shop-in-shop concept, in about 100 Target locations from the second half of 2021 11. Fortune called it a daring move 7.

In March 2021 Fortune reported that president Dave Kimbell would succeed Dillon as chief executive in June, with Dillon staying as executive chair for a year 7.

Sales then rebounded as restrictions eased: net sales rose 40.3 percent to $8.6 billion in fiscal 2021 12, and 18.3 percent to $10.2 billion in fiscal 2022 13.

Growth then flattened, as comparable sales rose 0.7 percent in fiscal 2024, and net income slipped from $1.29 billion in fiscal 2023 to $1.20 billion in fiscal 2024 and $1.15 billion in fiscal 2025 1.

On 6 January 2025 the company announced that Kimbell would retire and that Steelman, then president and chief operating officer, would become chief executive 6. Management unveiled the Ulta Beauty Unleashed plan that year 1.

On 10 July 2025 Ulta announced it was acquiring British retailer Space NK from private equity firm Manzanita Capital, with terms not disclosed 4. Retail Dive noted that Ulta once opened about 100 stores a year for much of the 2010s 4.

Stores, salons and online

Ulta Beauty is the largest specialty beauty retailer in the U.S., and it operated 1,505 U.S. stores at the end of fiscal 2025 1. A typical store is about 10,000 square feet, including about 950 square feet for a full-service salon 1.

By category, fiscal 2025 net sales were 38 percent cosmetics, 24 percent skincare and wellness, 19 percent haircare, 13 percent fragrance, 4 percent services and 2 percent other 1.

In the second quarter, chief financial officer Chris DelOrefice said haircare again grew at a high single-digit comparable rate, led by prestige haircare and hair tools from brands such as Shark and T3 5.

Brands, private label and loyalty

Ulta U.S. offers about 30,000 products from about 600 brands 1. Its top ten brand partners, such as L'Oréal and Estée Lauder Companies, made up about 51 percent of its net sales in fiscal 2025 1.

Its private label, Ulta Beauty Collection, and long-term exclusives were about 4 percent of net sales, and about 11 percent with short-term exclusives 1. The Ulta Beauty Rewards loyalty program had more than 46 million members, and about 95 percent of sales came from members 1.

Wellness, marketplace and media

Wellness by Ulta Beauty adds nutrition and supplements, intimate care, rest and reset products, and essential routines such as oral care 1. UB Marketplace, launched in fiscal 2025, lets outside brands fulfill orders directly while Ulta earns a commission, and it offered more than 200 brands at year end 1.

UB Media, launched in 2022, gives brand partners advertising across Ulta's own digital channels 1.

International: Space NK, Mexico and the Middle East

Space NK, a luxury beauty retailer, ran 84 stores in the U.K. and two in Ireland on 31 January 2026 1. A Mexico joint venture had nine stores, and franchise partner Alshaya Group ran one in Kuwait and one in the United Arab Emirates 1.

Rivals, people and places

The annual report names department stores, specialty stores, grocery stores, drug stores, mass merchandisers and online retailers as major competitors for prestige and mass products 1. Retail Dive pointed to Sephora's shop-in-shops at Kohl's as added competition 4.

Kecia Steelman is president and chief executive, and Chris DelOrefice is chief financial officer 25. The company employed about 65,000 associates in the U.S., 1,800 in the U.K. and Ireland and 20 in Uruguay at the end of fiscal 2025 1.

Ulta leases all its stores, distribution centers and offices 1. It runs four regional distribution centers, two market fulfillment centers and one fast fulfillment center, and its headquarters is in Bolingbrook, Illinois 1.

Among the risks it names are inflation, elevated tariff levels and weaker consumer spending 1.

The umbrella, in words

The company's brands are Ulta Beauty, with its stores, Ulta.com and app, its private label Ulta Beauty Collection, and Space NK 1. Ulta bought Space NK Limited, which operates as a standalone subsidiary led by its earlier management 14.

Exhibit 21 lists five significant subsidiaries: Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance, Inc., Ulta Inc., Ulta Beauty Credit Services Corporation, Ulta Beauty Cosmetics, LLC and Ulta Beauty Distribution, LLC 3. It omits others as not significant 3.

The Mexico venture licenses the Ulta Beauty name and operating model from Ulta, and Ulta records its share of the venture's loss, $3.9 million in fiscal 2025 1. Alshaya Group licenses the name in the Middle East and Ulta earns royalties 1.

The company now expects fiscal 2026 net sales growth of 6.7 percent to 7.2 percent and comparable sales growth of 3.2 percent to 3.7 percent 2. It expects operating income growth of 8.3 percent to 9.3 percent and diluted earnings per share of $28.70 to $29.00 2.

It left its capital spending outlook at $400 million to $450 million 2. It expects to use the remaining $1.0 billion of its $3.0 billion repurchase program, announced in October 2024, by the end of fiscal 2026 2.

Over the long term the company believes it could grow to more than 1,800 freestanding Ulta U.S. stores, at an average investment of about $2.4 million for each new store 1. Retail Dive reported in July 2025 that it planned to open about 66 stores a year for the next three years 4.

The Ulta Beauty Unleashed plan has three priorities: drive core business growth, scale new and accretive businesses, and align the company's foundation for future success 1. Steelman said Ulta would continue to grow the Space NK banner 4.