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Will Weakness in Ulta Beauty, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:ULTA) Stock Prove Temporary Given Strong Fundamentals?

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) has had a rough month with its share price down 24%. However, stock prices are usually driven by a company’s financial performance over the long term, which in this case looks quite promising. Specifically, we decided to study Ulta Beauty's ROE in this article.

Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors’ money. In other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company's shareholders.

See our latest analysis for Ulta Beauty

How To Calculate Return On Equity?

The formula for return on equity is:

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Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Ulta Beauty is:

57% = US$1.3b ÷ US$2.3b (Based on the trailing twelve months to February 2024).

The 'return' is the yearly profit. One way to conceptualize this is that for each $1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made $0.57 in profit.

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth?

Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. We now need to evaluate how much profit the company reinvests or "retains" for future growth which then gives us an idea about the growth potential of the company. Assuming everything else remains unchanged, the higher the ROE and profit retention, the higher the growth rate of a company compared to companies that don't necessarily bear these characteristics.

Ulta Beauty's Earnings Growth And 57% ROE

To begin with, Ulta Beauty has a pretty high ROE which is interesting. Secondly, even when compared to the industry average of 19% the company's ROE is quite impressive. Under the circumstances, Ulta Beauty's considerable five year net income growth of 22% was to be expected.

As a next step, we compared Ulta Beauty's net income growth with the industry and found that the company has a similar growth figure when compared with the industry average growth rate of 25% in the same period.

past-earnings-growth
past-earnings-growth

Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. The investor should try to establish if the expected growth or decline in earnings, whichever the case may be, is priced in. Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. What is ULTA worth today? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether ULTA is currently mispriced by the market.

Is Ulta Beauty Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

Ulta Beauty doesn't pay any regular dividends to its shareholders, meaning that the company has been reinvesting all of its profits into the business. This is likely what's driving the high earnings growth number discussed above.

Summary

In total, we are pretty happy with Ulta Beauty's performance. Particularly, we like that the company is reinvesting heavily into its business, and at a high rate of return. Unsurprisingly, this has led to an impressive earnings growth. That being so, a study of the latest analyst forecasts show that the company is expected to see a slowdown in its future earnings growth. To know more about the company's future earnings growth forecasts take a look at this free report on analyst forecasts for the company to find out more.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.