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An Ulta Beauty store is seen at Monroe Marketplace in...
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Ulta shares shine after the mega beauty retailer dropped dazzling Q4 earnings

Shares of the largest US beauty retailer are still down nearly 45% over the past year.

Nia Warfield

Ulta Beauty shares popped 6% in early trading Friday, a day after the mega beauty retailer posted an attractive Q4 earnings beat.

Revenue hit $3.48 billion, topping analyst estimates of $3.46 billion, according to FactSet, though it still fell slightly short of last year’s numbers, which included an extra week. Earnings per share came in at $8.46, beating expectations of $7.13.

As the largest US beauty retailer, Ulta has long been a go-to for cosmetics, fragrances, skin care, hair care, and salon services. However, like peers Estée Lauder, e.l.f. Beauty, and Coty, Ulta’s stock has struggled as consumer spending tightens and competition picks up from larger retail rivals like Amazon and Walmart. Ulta shares have fallen more than 20% so far this year.

For the full year, Ulta expects diluted earnings per share to range from $22.50 to $22.90, just below estimates of $23.06.

This is the first earnings report under Ulta’s new CEO, Kecia Steelman. On a call with analysts, she said the company’s relaunched loyalty program recently reached a record of 44.6 million members, and she highlighted plans to launch in Mexico and expand into the Middle East.

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Retail traders are “skipping the dip” this time

Here’s one noteworthy feature of the recent market downturn that has the S&P 500 poised for its worst week since reciprocal tariffs were announced in early April: retail traders seemingly aren’t eager to buy the weakness in single stocks the way they used to be.

JPMorgan strategist Arun Jain has flagged that retail traders instead appear to be “skipping the dip.”

“In contrast to the behavior observed during the post-Liberation Day selloff, retail investors did not seize the opportunity to buy-the-dip on Tuesday, with a few exceptions such as META,” he wrote of the day where the benchmark US stock index fell 1.2%. “In fact, they scaled back their ETF purchases and turned net sellers in single stocks.”

Then on Thursday, when the S&P 500 fell 1.1%, Jain estimated that retail traders sold $261 million in single stocks.

With that intel, it’s little wonder why the carnage this week has been particularly intense in more speculative single stocks that had been favored by the retail community, including IREN, IonQ, Rigetti, Cipher Mining, Bloom Energy, and Oklo.

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Archer Aviation plunges on $650 million share sale following its third-quarter results

Air taxi maker Archer Aviation is deep in the red on Friday morning after reporting its third-quarter results after the bell Thursday. The stock is down more than 12%.

Investors don’t appear to be thrilled about the company’s $650 million direct stock offering, announced alongside its results.

The move marks at least the third major equity raise, and dilution, for Archer this year. The company raised $300 million from a new stock sale in February, and sold $850 million worth of shares in June.

On Archer’s earnings call Thursday, interim CFO Priya Gupta said the company came to the decision after “substantial inbound interest.” According to Gupta, the company has heard from government and commercial partners that liquidity is a “key driver to their decisions of who to partner with.” With its latest share sale, Archer said its total liquidity is more than $2 billion.

Archer Aviation sinks after reporting better-than-expected Q3 loss, announces it will acquire LA’s Hawthorne Airport

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The move marks at least the third major equity raise, and dilution, for Archer this year. The company raised $300 million from a new stock sale in February, and sold $850 million worth of shares in June.

On Archer’s earnings call Thursday, interim CFO Priya Gupta said the company came to the decision after “substantial inbound interest.” According to Gupta, the company has heard from government and commercial partners that liquidity is a “key driver to their decisions of who to partner with.” With its latest share sale, Archer said its total liquidity is more than $2 billion.

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