Dive Brief:
- E.l.f. Beauty’s growth may be driven more by its innovation pipeline versus its price positioning, CEO Tarang Amin told analysts on a call Wednesday. The executive reiterated that a broad price reduction test done in May showed 90% of SKUs were appropriately priced, with just 10% of items seeing outsized unit growth by dropping prices by $1.
- With strength across the portfolio, E.l.f. Beauty’s second quarter net sales skyrocketed 51% year over year to $520.8 million, according to a Wednesday press release. Net income jumped to about $30 million, up from just under $3 million the year before.
- The beauty company raised its fiscal year 2027 outlook, now expecting net sales growth from 22% to 24% versus its previously predicted range of 18% to 20%.
Dive Insight:
The 51% net sales growth for E.l.f. Beauty is almost hard to believe, but industry analysts from William Blair made sure to note that the staggering numbers are not made up.
“We believe in our thesis that e.l.f. Beauty’s distinctive value proposition and go-to-market capabilities will enable it to further its pursuit of becoming a global leader in beauty,” the William Blair analysts said in an emailed note Wednesday.
Rhode — part of E.l.f. Beauty’s portfolio, which also has its namesake brand, Naturium and more — remained a core part of the company’s strength, with more limited visibility into the core E.l.f. Brand, according to some analysts.
“We believe Rhode momentum will likely extend into next year even against tougher comparisons, but the core e.l.f. brand performance remains difficult to assess,” TD Cowen analysts said in a Thursday note. “The Beauty category remains more resilient in the current environment.”
Company executives on the call remarked on the relationships it has with key mass retailers in the U.S., such as Sephora, Target and Walmart. Amin called out the exclusivity deal it has for the newer E.l.f hair care collection through Target.
“We have seen great success initially in the first three months at our exclusive launch with Target,” Amin told analysts. “E.l.f. Hair is already in the top 20 brands in hair care, top 7 in styling. And in terms of our expansion plans, we're currently in exclusivity with Target. We will eventually expand distribution of e.l.f. Hair similar to what we've done with e.l.f. Skin, and that will come with incremental space.”
