Retail chain Ulta Beauty has predicted a slow in its sales and lowered its profit forecast for the remainder of fiscal 2019.
Despite a 12% sales boost for the first six months ended 3 August 2019 to US$1.6bn, it expects comparable sales to grow between 4% and 6% down from 6% to 7%.
Its earnings per share (EPS) are also forecast to take a hit.
Down from $12.83 to $13.03, it expects its EPS to range from $11.86 to $12.06.
This has triggered a plummet in its shares of more than 20% to $264, compared with $330 on the previous close.
These predictions, it claims, reflect the slow down in momentum across the US cosmetics market.
“The Ulta Beauty team delivered another quarter of solid top-line performance, gross margin expansion, and double-digit earnings growth,” said its CEO Mary Dillon.
She added: “Looking forward, we have updated our fiscal 2019 outlook to reflect the headwinds we are currently seeing in the US cosmetics market.”
But Dillon said the company remains positive about its future.
“We remain confident that our guest-centric, differentiated business model will drive continued market share gains and strong returns for our shareholders over the long term.”
