CFO Akhil Shrivastava said while there were early signs of stabilization in Mainland China, travel retail conversion continues to be weak and challenges persist in the West, including subdued consumer sentiment in the U.S. and Western Europe.
Estee Lauder (EL) CFO Akhil Shrivastava said on Wednesday that the beauty and cosmetics giant expects tariff-related headwinds to impact profitability by about $100 million in fiscal 2026.
“We continue to evaluate additional strategies to further mitigate these impacts, including more PRGP initiatives and potential pricing actions,” Shrivastava said on a post-earnings call.
Retail sentiment on Estee Lauder improved to ‘extremely bullish’ from ‘bullish’ territory a day ago, with message volume at ‘extremely high’ levels, according to data from Stocktwits.
Shares of Estee Lauder were down nearly 4% during midday trading. The company expects fiscal 2026 adjusted profit per share between $1.90 and $2.10, compared with Wall Street expectations of $2.22. “While there are early signs of stabilization in Mainland China, travel retail conversion continues to be weak and challenges persist in the West, including subdued consumer sentiment in the U.S. and Western Europe,” Shrivastava said.
Estee Lauder’s fourth-quarter net sales were $3.41 billion, compared with estimates of $3.36 billion, according to data compiled by Fiscal AI.
CEO Stéphane de La Faverie noted that following the launch of its The Ordinary product on Amazon Premium Beauty Store in the U.S. during the third quarter, the company also launched Origin and Aveda brands at Amazon’s stores in the fourth quarter. He added that Estee Lauder and Aveda also opened in the Amazon Premium Beauty Store in Canada.
“We now have 11 brand storefronts in the U.S. and three in Canada. And in Southeast Asia, we built scales on Shopee and TikTok shop across the third and fourth quarters,” de La Faverie.
He added that this action complemented second-half growth and, as a result, online organic sales growth accelerated from low single digit in the first half to mid-single digit in the second half.
Estee Lauder’s adjusted earnings per share (EPS) came in at $0.09, in line with expectations. Shares of Estee Lauder have gained over 15% so far this year but have declined 6.3% in the last 12 months.
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