Estee Lauder Inc.’s stock
EL,
fell 2% premarket Friday, after the cosmetics company posted better-than-expected earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter but offered guidance that lagged consensus. The company had a net loss of $33 million, or 9 cents a share, for the quarter to June 30, after earnings of $52 million, or 14 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to 7 cents, ahead of the FactSet consensus for a loss of 4 cents a share. Sales rose 1% to $3.609 billion to beat the $3.485 billion FactSet consensus. “For full-year fiscal 2023, we delivered organic sales growth and prestige beauty share gains in many developed and emerging markets, but Asia travel retail pressured results, particularly in Skin Care, and we continued to experience softness in North America,” Chief Executive Fabrizio Freda said in a statement. The company is now expecting fiscal 2024 sales to rise 5% to 7% and for EPS to range from $3.50 to $3.75. The FactSet consensus is for fiscal 2024 EPS of $4.88. The stock has fallen 35% in the year to date, while the S&P 500
SPX,
has gained 13.8%.
