Ulta Beauty reports strong second quarter earnings

Ulta Beauty Inc. Thursday announced financial results for the second quarter, stating that net sales increased 15.4 percent.

The Bolingbrook company said that comparable sales increased 6.5 percent and diluted EPS increased 34.4 percent.

"The Ulta Beauty team delivered a strong performance in the second quarter, reflecting rapid growth in prestige boutique brands, mass cosmetics, skin care and fragrance, offset by continued moderation in the growth rates of a few of our large color cosmetics brands," said CEO Mary Dillon, chief executive officer. "Our flexible business model continues to support healthy retail comps, excellent new store productivity, and high growth for Ulta.com, resulting in significant market share gains across categories."

The company said it ended the second quarter with $386.1 million in cash and short-term investments.

In addition, there were Ulta opened 19 stores during the quarter, including in Crystal Lake and others across the country.

For the third quarter, the company expects net sales in the range of $1,550.0 million to $1,563.0 million, compared to actual net sales of $1,342.2 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2017. Comparable sales for the third quarter of fiscal 2018, including e-commerce sales, are expected to increase 7 percent to 8 percent. The Company reported a comparable sales increase of 10.3 percent in the third quarter of fiscal 2017.