E.l.f. Beauty Loses Its Glow As Q3 Earnings Miss The Mark
Even beauty can turn beastly on Wall Street — just ask e.l.f. Beauty. The cosmetic darling’s stock plummeted by nearly 20% Friday after it missed profit expectations and slashed its full-year guidance. Having plunged nearly 70% since its June 2024 peak, investors desperately await a makeover story, but CEO Tarang Amin shrugged off concerns of deeper issues.
- While holiday sales soared 31% from last year to $355M, profits collapsed 36% to $17.3M — leaving the low-cost brand mulling over price hikes amid impending tariffs that could disrupt 80% of its China-based supply chain.
- Looking ahead, e.l.f. slashed its full-year outlook to $1.3B in sales and $3.27-$3.32 in EPS, falling below Wall Street’s expectations of $1.34B and $3.54, respectively — with Q4 earnings now projected to miss estimates by ~30%.
The beauty of excuses: CEO Amin blamed the slowdown on everything from post-holiday discount hangovers to reduced “social commentary” during LA wildfires, even citing TikTok ban uncertainty for dampened online beauty discussions. While management takes a “prudent” approach to guidance, investors seem more concerned about the company’s shrinking margins — rather than its growing list of creative explanations.
