What happened
Shares of Estee Lauder Companies Inc (EL 1.45%) were looking stellar today after the cosmetics giant reported an impressive first quarter. The stock was up 9.1% as of 11:25 a.m. EDT.
The parent of brands including Clinique and Donna Karan said overall revenue jumped 14% to $3.27 billion, with the help of the recent acquisitions of Too Faced and BECCA, which added 4 percentage points of growth. Analysts had expected $3.17 billion in revenue. On the bottom line, adjusted earnings per share surged from $0.85 to $1.21, beating estimates at $0.97.
Image source: Getty Images.
So what
Estee Lauder's efforts to pivot to a younger demographic seem to be paying off as the company has hired celebrities such as model Kendall Jenner to promote their products. CEO Fabrizio Freda said, "We delivered an outstanding financial performance in our fiscal 2018 first quarter, demonstrating the power of our diverse brand portfolio to leverage our multiple engines of growth." He also said that most of the company's luxury and midsize brands grew by double digits, and the U.S. market began to recover.
Skin care was a particularly strong point, with operating income up 54% from a year ago to $326 million, making up more than half of profits.
Now what
The beauty giant also raised its full-year guidance as it now sees revenue growth of 10%-11%, or 8%-9% in constant currency, and adjusted earnings per share in the range of $4.04 to $4.12, up from $3.47 a year ago. Both projections were ahead of the analyst consensus.
While other beauty brands have struggled, Estee Lauder's collection of brands with global reach is winning over customers. The stock is up nearly 60% this year and could climb more.
