Ulta Beauty’s (ULTA) shares surged by almost 7% in pre-market trading, following the beauty retailer’s strong performance in its fourth-quarter earnings, which exceeded expectations for both sales and profit. The results point to a solid holiday season as consumers flocked to Ulta’s stores for everything from cosmetics to perfumes.
While Ulta's (ULTA) fourth-quarter net sales saw a modest decline of 1.9%, totalling $3.49bn (£2.7bn), the figure surpassed analysts' expectations of $3.46bn. Additionally, the beauty giant posted a profit of $8.46 per share for the quarter ended 1 February, comfortably outpacing the anticipated $7.12 per share.
The retailer’s strong holiday performance was partly driven by discounts offered during the Thanksgiving period, aimed at attracting shoppers eager to spend during the season. However, despite the upbeat results, Ulta (ULTA) issued a cautious outlook for the upcoming year, citing a combination of internal challenges, intensifying competition, and "consumer uncertainty."
The company, which appointed Kecia Steelman as its new CEO in January, warned that it expects comparable sales in 2025 to remain flat or grow by just 1%, a slowdown compared to analyst expectations of a 1.2% increase.
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“I’ve shared our plan to make important guest-facing investments, which are necessary to improve our competitiveness and re-accelerate long term share growth,” said Steelman on a call with analysts. “These investments will pressure profitability in 2025 but we believe they are critical to driving long-term sustainable growth in a competitive, innovative category.”
Ulta (ULTA) also lowered its full-year earnings guidance to a range of $22.50 to $22.90 per share, falling short of analysts’ forecast of $23.47, according to data from LSEG (LSEG.L).
Shares in DocuSign Inc. (DOCU) rose by more than 10% in pre-market trading after the electronic signature company reported strong earnings and revenue for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025.
For the quarter ending January 31, DocuSign (DOCU) posted adjusted earnings of $0.86 per share, up from $0.76 per share in the same period a year ago. Revenue for the quarter reached $776.3m, marking a 9% year-over-year increase. Both figures exceeded analyst expectations, which had forecast earnings of 84 cents per share and revenue of $760.99m.
Subscription revenue for the quarter grew by 9%, reaching $757.8m, while professional services and other revenue rose 11%, totalling $18.5m. Billings in the quarter also saw an 11% year-over-year increase, amounting to $932.2m.
Free cash flow for the quarter stood at $279.6m, an increase from $248.6m in the same period in fiscal year 2024. DocuSign (DOCU) closed the quarter with $1.1bn in cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and investments.
Key business developments in the quarter included the launch of updates to Web Forms in October, which introduced document exclusion rules and multi-recipient form support to streamline data collection. In November, DocuSign (DOCU) unveiled DocuSign for Developers, a tool allowing partners to build integrations and automate workflows using a robust set of application programming interfaces and software development kits.
For the full fiscal year 2025, DocuSign (DOCU) reported adjusted earnings per share of $3.55, up from $2.98 in 2024, with total revenue reaching $2.98bn, an 8% increase compared to the previous year. Looking ahead, for the first quarter of fiscal 2026, the company expects revenue to range from $745m to $749m. For the full year, the company anticipates revenue between $3.129bn and $3.141bn.
Shares of Rubrik (RBRK) surged by 20% in pre-market trading on Friday following the cybersecurity company’s fourth-quarter earnings report and upbeat guidance for the coming year.
For the period ending January 31, Rubrik (RBRK) reported an adjusted loss of $0.18 per share, while revenue surged 47% year-over-year to $258.1m. This included $243.7m from subscription revenue and $3.38m from its maintenance segment.
Rubrik (RBRK) also saw growth in its customer base, ending the quarter with 2,246 customers who spent $100,000 or more in annual recurring revenue. Analysts had expected a larger adjusted loss of $0.39 per share on $233.2m in revenue.
“Fiscal 2025 was a milestone year for Rubrik,” said Bipul Sinha, Rubrik’s (RBRK) chief executive officer. “Our strong growth at scale demonstrates that we’re winning the cyber resilience market. However, we are still very early in Rubrik’s journey to achieve the company’s full potential and I’m confident that what's ahead of us is even more important and exciting.”
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Looking ahead, Rubrik (RBRK) expects an adjusted loss between $0.31 and $0.32 per share for the first quarter of fiscal 2026, with revenue forecasted between $259m and $261m. Analysts had anticipated a larger adjusted loss of $0.50 per share and revenue of $243.3m.
For the full fiscal year, Rubrik (RBRK) forecasts revenue between $1.15bn and $1.16bn, exceeding the analyst estimate of $1.11bn. The company expects an adjusted loss of between $1.13 and $1.23 per share, a smaller loss than the anticipated $1.25 per share.
Subscription annual recurring revenue for fiscal 2026 is projected to be between $1.35bn and $1.36bn, with free cash flow expected to range from $45m to $65m.
Tesla's (TSLA) shares rebounded by 1.4% in pre-market trading, recovering some of the losses from the previous session, where the stock dropped nearly 3%. The electric vehicle maker issued a warning that president Donald Trump’s trade policies could negatively impact its business, despite CEO Elon Musk being a close ally of the president.
Tesla (TSLA) said it is important to ensure that the Trump administration's efforts to address trade issues "do not inadvertently harm US companies".
It added it is eager to avoid retaliation of the type it faced in prior trade disputes, which resulted in increased tariffs on electric vehicles imported into countries subject to US tariffs.
"US exporters are inherently exposed to disproportionate impacts when other countries respond to US trade actions," Tesla (TSLA) said in the letter. "For example, past trade actions by the United States have resulted in immediate reactions by the targeted countries, including increased tariffs on EVs imported into those countries."
The letter, which was unsigned but printed on Tesla’s (TSLA) company letterhead, did not specify the author within the company.
Shares in Berkeley Group (BKG.L) were higher as the UK housebuilder reaffirmed its earnings guidance, but warned that planned government regulatory changes are placing “significant” pressure on the delivery of new homes.
The government is set to introduce the building safety levy, which will require developers to contribute to the costs of addressing historic building safety defects, including unsafe fire cladding, in an effort to protect leaseholders and taxpayers from bearing the financial burden.
“Berkeley (BKG.L) remains concerned by the impact of the extent and pace of regulatory changes of recent years, as we now await details of the new building safety levy,” the company said in a trading statement on Friday.
Despite this, the FTSE 100 (^FTSE) company reported that sales enquiries remained at a “consistently good level,” with a modest improvement in reservations continuing through the four months to February 28. However, the company cautioned that a full recovery in sales rates, bringing them closer to levels seen three years ago, would require greater confidence in the trajectory of interest rate reductions and broader economic stability.
Berkeley (BKG.L) maintained its earnings forecast for the year ending 30 April at £525m, with a forecast of £450m for the following year.
Other companies in the news on Friday 14 March
Allianz (ALVD.XC)
Bodycote (BOY.L)
Vanquis Banking (VANQ.L)
AIA (1299.HK)
Hon Hai Precision 2317 (2317.TW)
BMW (BMW.DE)
Daimler Truck (DTG.DE)
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