The Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE: EL), which manufactures and sells cosmetic products, was on a downslide at the time of publishing despite reporting adjusted earnings of $0.07 per share in its fiscal fourth quarter. Although this was a 75% year-over-year drop on a constant currency basis, it still beat analysts’ expectations of -$0.04 per share. Furthermore, Estée Lauder posted revenues of $3.61 billion, up by 1% year-over-year and surpassing Street estimates of $3.48 billion.
Fabrizio Freda, President and CEO, commented, “We returned to organic sales growth in the fourth quarter, delivering our outlook. Momentum continued in the markets of EMEA and Latin America and accelerated strongly in Asia/Pacific led by mainland China and Hong Kong SAR.”
In FY24, EL has projected net sales to grow in the range of 5% to 7%, while adjusted diluted earnings per common share are likely to increase between 4% and 12% on a constant currency basis. In Q1, the company anticipates organic net sales to decline between 12% and 10%, while adjusted diluted net earnings are expected to range from -$0.29 to -$0.19 per common share on a constant currency basis.
Analysts are cautiously optimistic about EL stock, with a Moderate Buy consensus rating based on 10 Buys and eight Holds.
