Ulta Beauty posted a 10.0% increase in H1 net sales to $6.2 billion. Q1 grew 11.1% and Q2 grew 8.9%, while comparable sales moved from 5.3% in Q1 to 3.8% in Q2.
For H1, cosmetics represented 38% of sales, skincare and wellness 24%, haircare 19%, fragrance 13%, and services and other 6%. In Q2, fragrance led with high-teen comp growth, followed by haircare at high-single-digit and skincare and wellness at mid-single-digit. Makeup was approximately flat and services declined modestly.
H1 gross margin expanded 50 basis points to 39.6%, and operating income grew 10.9% to $827.9 million. In Q2, gross margin declined 10 basis points to 39.1% because of the Space NK mix, while operating income still grew 10.1% to $379.6 million.
The company ended Q2 with 1,534 Ulta Beauty stores in the U.S. and 88 Space NK stores. It opened 34 stores in H1 for 31 net new stores. Marketplace reached 450+ brands and 12,000+ SKUs, up from 325+ and 8,000+ in Q1.
Active loyalty members reached approximately 47 million in Q2, up 3% year-over-year, while the mobile app represented 60% of online sales. Ulta launched 15 new brands, gained prestige share, and held mass share roughly flat while UB Media delivered double-digit growth.
Ulta raised FY26 guidance to 6.7%-7.2% for net sales growth, 3.2%-3.7% for comparable sales growth, 8.3%-9.3% for operating income growth, and $28.70-$29.00 for diluted EPS.
