Ulta Beauty (ULTA) Earnings: Q2 Fiscal 2026 Results and Next Report Date

The quarter ended August 1, 2026 and Ulta Beauty published the results on August 27, 2026. Revenue and diluted EPS are shown against Q2 fiscal 2025, the same quarter a year earlier, which takes seasonal swings out of the comparison.

• Ulta Beauty's fiscal year ends on the Saturday closest to January 31. Q2 fiscal 2026 is the 13 weeks ended August 1, 2026, against the 13 weeks ended August 2, 2025.
• Ulta Beauty announced the acquisition of Space NK, a U.K. beauty retailer, on July 10, 2025. Space NK contributed to net sales growth in the quarter and its business mix lowered the gross margin rate.

Source: Ulta Beauty Q2 fiscal 2026 results, August 27, 2026. Also in the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended August 1, 2026. Figures as reported; checked against the release on November 10, 2026.

From the earnings release

Ulta Beauty raised its fiscal 2026 outlook in a table: net sales growth of 6.7% to 7.2% (prior 6% to 7%), comparable sales growth of 3.2% to 3.7% (prior 2.5% to 3.5%), operating income growth of 8.3% to 9.3% (prior 6.5% to 9%) and diluted EPS of $28.70 to $29.00 (prior $28.36 to $28.80). Capital expenditures of $400 million to $450 million were unchanged. The first quote below is from CEO Kecia Steelman.

In its Q2 fiscal 2026 release, Ulta Beauty said:

“With our strong first-half performance, we have raised our financial guidance for the year, reflecting our confidence in our strategic priorities and our ability to drive profitable growth and long-term value for all stakeholders in a dynamic environment.”

“The Company now expects to utilize the remaining $1.0 billion available under the current share repurchase authorization by the end of fiscal 2026.”

Source: Ulta Beauty Q2 fiscal 2026 earnings release, Aug 27, 2026.

This is the company's own guidance as of Aug 27, 2026, quoted as given. Walnut does not make forecasts of its own. Analyst estimates for the coming quarters are on the ULTA forecast page.

Revenue and diluted EPS for the last 5 quarters. Each date links to that quarter's release.

Net sales and diluted EPS, each as first reported in that quarter's release.

Ulta Beauty's next report is scheduled for December 3, 2026. This page will show Q2 fiscal 2026 until those results are out and have been checked against the release.

Each quarter keeps its own page with the figures as reported, so a link to one stays pointed at the same numbers after the next report.

• Q2 fiscal 2026 (this page), reported Aug 27, 2026

Ulta Beauty's net sales rose 8.9% to $3,035.7 million in Q2 fiscal 2026, from $2,788.5 million. Ulta Beauty put the increase down to higher comparable sales, the acquisition of Space NK and sales from new stores. Comparable sales rose 3.8%, against 6.7% in the same quarter a year earlier, and the increase came primarily from a 3.9% rise in average ticket. (Ulta Beauty Q2 fiscal 2026 earnings release, Aug 27, 2026; Ulta Beauty Form 10-Q, Q2 fiscal 2026, Aug 27, 2026)

Ulta Beauty reports one segment, covering retail stores, salon services and e-commerce, and breaks net sales out by category as percentages. In the quarter cosmetics were 37% of net sales (38% a year earlier), skincare and wellness 24% (25%), haircare 20% (19%), fragrance 13% (12%), services 4% and other 2%. (Ulta Beauty Q2 fiscal 2026 earnings release, Aug 27, 2026; Ulta Beauty Form 10-Q, Q2 fiscal 2026, Aug 27, 2026)

Ulta Beauty operated 1,622 stores at August 1, 2026: 1,534 Ulta Beauty stores across all 50 U.S. states, 86 Space NK stores in the U.K. and 2 in Ireland. It opened 15 stores and closed 1 in the quarter, for 16.1 million square feet of gross store space. Nearly every U.S. store has a full-service salon. (Ulta Beauty Form 10-Q, Q2 fiscal 2026, Aug 27, 2026; Ulta Beauty Q2 fiscal 2026 earnings release, Aug 27, 2026)

Ulta Beauty's sales come almost entirely from its loyalty base. The Ulta Beauty Rewards program had more than 46 million members at the end of fiscal 2025, and members accounted for about 95% of total sales that year. Outside the U.S., Ulta Beauty also has a joint venture in Mexico and a franchise in the Middle East, and says its international activities are not significant to its financial results. (Ulta Beauty Form 10-K, fiscal 2025, Mar 26, 2026)

Ulta Beauty reports only GAAP EPS. Diluted EPS rose 13.3% to $6.55 from $5.78, faster than net income, which rose 8.1%, because diluted weighted average shares fell to 43,062 thousand from 45,112 thousand. Operating income rose 10.1% to $379.6 million, or 12.5% of net sales against 12.4%. (Ulta Beauty Q2 fiscal 2026 earnings release, Aug 27, 2026; Ulta Beauty Form 10-Q, Q2 fiscal 2026, Aug 27, 2026)

Ulta Beauty's gross margin slipped to 39.1% of net sales from 39.2% because of the Space NK business mix, while SG&A expenses fell to 26.4% of net sales from 26.6%. The effective tax rate was 24.6%, against 24.5% a year earlier. (Ulta Beauty Q2 fiscal 2026 earnings release, Aug 27, 2026; Ulta Beauty Form 10-Q, Q2 fiscal 2026, Aug 27, 2026)

Ulta Beauty repurchased 1.4 million shares for $791.1 million, excluding excise taxes, in the first six months of fiscal 2026. It raised its fiscal 2026 repurchase plan to $1.8 billion from $1.5 billion, and $1.0 billion remained under its $3.0 billion authorization at August 1, 2026. Short-term debt stood at $339.6 million at quarter end, which it said partly supported share repurchases. (Ulta Beauty Q2 fiscal 2026 earnings release, Aug 27, 2026)

Diluted EPS divides net income by the weighted average number of shares outstanding in the quarter, plus the shares that options and other equity awards could add. Buybacks shrink that count and lift EPS for the same profit; share issuance and stock awards enlarge it.

Ulta Beauty gives a full-year outlook in its release and raised it with Q2 fiscal 2026 results. It now expects fiscal 2026 net sales growth of 6.7% to 7.2%, comparable sales growth of 3.2% to 3.7%, operating income growth of 8.3% to 9.3% and diluted EPS of $28.70 to $29.00, up from $28.36 to $28.80. Capital expenditures of $400 million to $450 million were unchanged. (Ulta Beauty Q2 fiscal 2026 earnings release, Aug 27, 2026)

Ulta Beauty also said it expects to use the remaining $1.0 billion of its share repurchase authorization by the end of fiscal 2026. (Ulta Beauty Q2 fiscal 2026 earnings release, Aug 27, 2026)

A consensus figure is the average of the models published by the analysts who cover Ulta Beauty, collected by a data provider and revised up to the day of the report. A quarter that lands above it says how expectations were set as much as how the business did, and the share price on the day also reflects the guidance and the lines no consensus covers.

The consensus figures on this page are Yahoo Finance's, as pulled on the date shown. Each comes with the number of analysts behind it; the smaller that number, the more one revised estimate can move the average.

The figures below are the ones Ulta Beauty's own release and filings put weight on for Q2 fiscal 2026, with the latest reported value for each.

What the quarter means for a holding is a separate question from what it reported. The case for and against owning ULTA is on is ULTA a buy or a sell?, what analysts expect next is on the ULTA forecast, and what the company does is on the Ulta Beauty (ULTA) stock page.

Every number on this page can be traced to a document Ulta Beauty published. Checking one takes a couple of minutes, and it is worth doing before you quote a figure anywhere.

• The results release is the document linked in the source line above. Companies publish it on their investor relations site at the moment results go out, and it carries the headline tables: revenue, operating income, net income and EPS for the quarter and the year-ago quarter.
• The same release is filed with the SEC as Exhibit 99.1 to a Form 8-K under Item 2.02, usually on the day of the report. The SEC copy does not change after the fact, which makes it the safer thing to link when you cite a number.
• The quarterly report (Form 10-Q) follows within a few weeks and carries the full financial statements, the segment note and management's discussion of what changed. The fourth quarter is covered by the annual report (Form 10-K) instead.
• Restated comparisons are flagged in the notes on this page. When a company redraws its segments or changes how it adjusts EPS, it restates the year-ago column, so the year-ago figure in a new release can differ from the one printed a year ago. This page always uses the comparison in the newer release, because that is the like-for-like one.

A walk-through of every line in a release, with what each one tells you, is in how to read an earnings report.