U.S. markets
U.S. stocks were mixed on Friday morning, with bitcoin prices at all-time highs. The Dow Jones gained 0.98% to 32,109, the S&P 500 Index rose 2.82% to 3,898 and the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 3.76% at 13,084.
Gainers
- L Brands Inc. (LB, Financial) +7.7%
- Boeing Co. (BA, Financial) +6.1%
- Ford Motor Co. (F, Financial) +3.9%
- Carnival Corp. (CCL, Financial) +2.7%
- Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV, Financial) +3.5%
Losers
- PerkinElmer Inc. (PKI, Financial) -3.4%
- Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (TMO, Financial) -2.7%
- ServiceNow Inc. (NOW, Financial) -3%
- Albemarle Corp. (ALB, Financial) -2.3%
- Lennar Corp. (LEN, Financial) -2.1%
Global markets
The main European stock markets traded mixed. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 0.36%, Germany's Dax slid 0.46%, France's CAC 40 gained 0.21% and Spain's Ibex 35 was up 0.60%.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 1.73%, India's BSE Sensex fell 0.95%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 2.2% and China's Shanghai Composite was up 0.47%.
Ulta Beauty releases earnings report
Shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (ULTA, Financial) fell more than 10% on Friday morning to $312.67 after the company posted its fiscal fourth-quarter results on Thursday.
Revenue declined 4.8% year over year to $2.2 billion, beating analysts' estimates by $120 million. The company posted a gain of $3.41 per share, beating expectations by $1.04.
CEO Mary Dillon had the following to say:
"The Ulta Beauty team delivered better-than-expected results for the fourth quarter. Strong, enterprise-wide execution of our plans, combined with improving trends in consumer demand, resulted in solid results across multiple metrics, including sales, transactions and profitability."
The gross profit was down 4.4% to $771.0 million compared to $806.9 million in the prior-year quarter. As a percentage of net sales, the gross profit rose to 35.1% compared to 35.0% in the comparable period due to higher merchandise margins.
Further, operating income was $224.3 million, or 10.2% of net sales, down from $287.8 million, or 12.5% of net sales, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2019. The adjusted operating income was $254.7 million, or 11.6% of net sales.
Moreover, the company repurchased 147,824 shares of common stock at an average price of $41.9 per share.
Looking forward to fiscal 2021, the company expects net revenue between $7.2 billion and $7.3 billion.
Ulta Beauty shares have advanced 12.2% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 6.5%.
During the fourth quarter, Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio) added 6.1% to his Ulta position to 8,790 shares.
Disclosure: The author holds no positions in any stocks mentioned.
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