Estee Lauder Cos., Inc. (EL) reported its financial results for the fourth quarter on Wednesday and provided earnings, adjusted earnings, and revenue growth guidance for the full year 2025, which fell significantly short of market expectations. The company also released a forecast for the first quarter of fiscal 2025, which also missed estimates.
For the first quarter, Estee Lauder anticipates a loss ranging from $0.09 to breakeven per share. Adjusted earnings are expected to be between $0.02 and $0.10 per share, with both reported and organic net sales declining by 3% to 5%.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had projected earnings of $0.63 per share on a revenue increase of 6.9% to $3.77 billion for the quarter. These analyst estimates typically exclude special items.
Regarding fiscal 2025, Estee Lauder now forecasts earnings between $2.52 and $2.76 per share, with adjusted earnings ranging from $2.75 to $2.95 per share. The company expects reported and organic net sales to fluctuate between a 1% decline and a 2% increase.
For the year, analysts anticipated earnings of $3.96 per share on a sales decline of 20.90% to $16.57 billion.
In the second quarter, the company reported a net loss attributable to the firm of $284 million, or $0.79 per share, a significant increase from the $33 million, or $0.09 per share, reported in the same quarter last year.
Excluding items, adjusted earnings for the quarter stood at $0.07 per share, compared to $0.64 per share in the year-ago period. Net sales for the quarter grew by 7% to $3.87 billion from $3.61 billion in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
Analysts had expected earnings of $0.27 per share on revenues of $3.81 billion for the quarter.
Additionally, the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.66 per share on its Class A and Class B Common Stock. This dividend is payable on September 16, 2024, to stockholders of record at the close of business on August 30, 2024.
