Ulta Beauty reported 9.3% net sales growth during its Q2 2025 earnings on Thursday to reach $2.8 billion in sales for the quarter. The retailer more than doubled its Q1 growth, which sat at 4.5%.
“The Ulta Beauty team delivered significantly better-than-planned sales performance and continued to successfully execute our strategic priorities for the quarter,” CEO Kecia Steelman said during the call. The company also increased its outlook for the year.
Steelman shared insights into the company’s growth during its Q2, which ended on August 2, stating that it was fueled by increased comparable sales, the acquisition of Space NK and new store contributions. Category leaders were fragrance, skin- and body-care, and wellness, although all major categories grew during the quarter, Steelman said.
The retailer opened 24 new stores and closed two during the quarter, while the Space NK acquisition brought in 83 net new stores, which will operate as a subsidiary under Space NK CEO Andy Lightfoot.
The retailer hosted 30,000 events, expanded its standalone wellness section by 370 stores and launched 24 new brands during the quarter, including Moroccan Oil, Half Magic, Inky List, Isima by Shakira and Goop.
Ulta Beauty announced its planned Target shop-in-shop cancellation last week, which includes more than 600 shop-in-shops located within Target stores.
“We’ve achieved a lot together, and we remain committed to supporting the shopping experience for guests through the end of the partnership, as well as continuing to support our teams and partners during the transition,” she said. “For perspective, the royalty revenue from our target partnership in fiscal 2024 was well below 1% of net sales.”
Ulta Beauty reported just under $11.3 billion in net sales for its fiscal 2024, putting 1% at around $113 million.
“We believe that our strategic priorities and our initiatives outlined in the ‘Ulta Beauty Unleashed’ strategy position us to really maximize our growth opportunities and replace any lost royalties,” Steelman said.
She went on to say that the partnership’s end “doesn’t change how we’re looking at [Ulta’s] long-term financial targets,” adding, “We’re really confident that this transition is going to actually position us to focus more fully on the successful execution of our strategy and to advance the initiatives that maximize growth opportunities in beauty and wellness for us.”
