Shares of Elf Beauty Inc. rose as much as 11% in the aftermarket Wednesday after the cosmetics company reported roaring quarterly sales and earnings that were well above Wall Street expectations, and raised its guidance for the year.
Elf
ELF,
earned $16.2 million, or 29 cents a share, in the fourth quarter, compared with $1.56 million, or 3 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted for one-time items, Elf earned 42 cents a share.
Revenue rose 78% to $187.4 million, mostly thanks to “strength” across Elf’s retail and e-commerce channels, the company said. Gross margins also increased on pricing, lower transportation costs, product mix and cost savings, Elf said.
Analysts polled by FactSet expected Elf to report adjusted earnings of 20 cents a share on sales of $156 million.
“We gained 270 basis points of market share in the quarter and increased our ranking to the No. 3 U.S. mass cosmetics brand for the first time, according to Nielsen,” Chief Executive Tarang Amin said in a statement. “As we look ahead, we believe we are still in the early innings of unlocking the full potential we see for Elf Beauty.”
Elf guided for fiscal 2024 sales between $705 million and $720 million, which would reflect a 22% to 24% increase in net sales, and adjusted EPS between $1.73 and $1.76.
The metrics compare with FactSet consensus of fiscal 2024 EPS of $1.43 a on sales of $548 million.