ULTA · Nasdaq · Consumer Cyclical
Ulta Beauty, Inc. (ULTA) — Rank #29 by gross profitability (GP/assets 0.70) · ROE 43.6% · Piotroski F-Score N/A.
As-of 2026-10-30 · CIK 0001403568 · all metrics point-in-time as of the filing date.
About
Ulta Beauty, Inc. operates as a specialty beauty retailer in the United States, Mexico, and Kuwait.
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The company offers branded and private label beauty products, including cosmetics, fragrance, haircare, skincare, bath and body products, professional hair products, and salon styling tools through its Ulta Beauty stores, shop-in-shops, Ulta.com website, and its mobile applications. It also provides wellness products. The company was formerly known as ULTA Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance, Inc. and changed its name to Ulta Beauty, Inc. in January 2017. Ulta Beauty, Inc.
was incorporated in 1990 and is based in Bolingbrook, Illinois.
- Industry
- Specialty Retail
- Sector
- Consumer Cyclical
- Filer Category
- Large accelerated filer
- Fiscal Year End
- January 30
- Website
- ulta.com
Company Snapshot
P/E and reverse DCF are the primary valuation lenses at this stage.
Market Cap
—
P/E (annual)
—
P/S (annual)
—
P/B
—
P/OCF (annual)
—
Shareholder Yield
—
Employees
21,382
Industry
Specialty Retail
Exchange
Nasdaq
10/11
Flags passed
ULTA fails 1 critical flag
Passes 10 of 11 quality flags
- FAILOperating margin declining
Operating margin lower than prior year
- PASSGross margin holding
- PASSDilution within 2%
- PASSFCF not negative from investment
- PASSDisclosure consistent
- PASSRevenue not declining
- PASSFree cash flow intact
- PASSPasses safety gate
- PASSNo competitive retreat
- PASSSBC not compressing margin
- PASSNo valuation convergence
Strengths Revenue growth accelerating · Deferred revenue growing · Sequential beat (rev + EPS)
No data Balance sheet — not counted as a pass.
A count of the 12 warning flags that could be evaluated. Unweighted: colour follows the worst flag.
Quality Profile
Profitability
1/1 passSafety
1/1 passCash Flow
2/3 passGrowth
2/2 passFCF yield, shareholder yield, and buyback activity are the primary reads at this stage.
Profitability
Does it make money well?
Warning: Operating margin declining · GP/assets 0.70
Gross profitability (GP / assets)
0.70
Primary signal (Novy-Marx).
5th of 11 SIC 59 peers
Return on equity
43.6%
Gross margin
39.1%
7th of 11 SIC 59 peers
Revenue growth (YoY)
9.7%
Gross margin improving
Margin trend vs prior year.
Operating Leverage
| 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue vs COGS | ||||
| Revenue vs OpEx | ||||
| Op. Income vs Revenue |
Growth
Revenue CAGR (3Y)
6.7%
Revenue CAGR (5Y)
15.0%
Earnings CAGR (3Y)
-2.4%
FCF CAGR (3Y)
-3.0%
Cash Flow Health
Is the cash real?
No warning flags · FCF 7% below net income
Free cash flow
$1.07B
Operating cash flow minus capex.
Positive free cash flow
FCF vs net income
-7.4%
(FCF − net income) ÷ |net income|. Positive: cash above earnings. Negative: below.
FCF not below net income
Fails when free cash flow is below net income (yellow flag).
Accruals healthy
Cash-backed earnings.
SBC / revenue
0.3%
Stock-based comp intensity.
Balance Sheet Strength
Can it survive a storm?
No warning flags · net debt $126.13M
Balance-sheet safety
Composite anti-fragile check.
Debt / equity
1.63
8th of 10 SIC 59 peers (best = lowest)
Current ratio
1.35×
9th of 11 SIC 59 peers
Quick ratio
0.22×
Net cash
-$126.13M
Cash & equivalents minus total debt.
Piotroski F-Score
N/A
Only 8/9 components determinable.
Valuation
Is the price reasonable?
No warning flags
Valuation History
Current multiple vs historical range at each filing date. Band spans 25th-75th percentile.
P / E
Price / diluted EPS
P / S
Price / revenue per share
P / B
Price / book value per share
P / GP
Price / gross profit per share
P / FCF
Price / free cash flow per share
Capital allocation quality
Composite score
3.5 / 5
Lifecycle Phase History
Price History
Source filings on SEC EDGAR: 10-K annual reports · 10-Q quarterly reports