e.l.f. Beauty Q1 Earnings Call Highlights

Key Points

• Strong first-quarter performance: e.l.f. Beauty’s fiscal 2027 Q1 sales rose 36% for its 30th consecutive quarter of growth, driven by Rhode and international markets. Adjusted EBITDA nearly doubled to $168 million, while gross margin reached 83%, aided significantly by approximately $50 million in tariff refunds.
• Full-year outlook raised: The company now expects fiscal 2027 sales growth of 18% to 20%, adjusted EBITDA of $401 million to $407 million, and adjusted EPS of $3.50 to $3.55. Rhode is expected to contribute about 13 percentage points of annual sales growth before its acquisition is fully annualized.
• Expansion and reinvestment plans: e.l.f. will reinvest tariff refunds in selective price reductions and increased marketing, while expanding e.l.f. Hair, e.l.f. Skin, Naturium and Rhode across new retailers and international markets. Rhode’s European Sephora launch is scheduled for September, supporting projected second-quarter sales growth in the mid-30% range.

e.l.f. Beauty NYSE: ELF reported first-quarter fiscal 2027 net sales growth of 36%, marking its 30th consecutive quarter of sales growth, as strong performance from Rhode and international markets helped offset a decline in organic unit volumes.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Tarang Amin said the company’s momentum prompted it to raise its full-year outlook. The company now expects fiscal 2027 net sales to increase 18% to 20%, compared with its previous expectation of 12% to 14% growth.

First-Quarter Results and Tariff Refund Impact

Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Mandy Fields said Rhode contributed approximately $160 million of net sales during the quarter, outperforming the company’s expectations. Organic net sales excluding Rhode were largely in line with the company’s prior outlook for a high-single-digit decline, reflecting comparisons against a busy prior-year shipping period and the prior-year launch of e.l.f.’s Glow Reviver Melting Lip Balm.

U.S. net sales rose 29%, while international net sales increased 61%. Pricing and product mix added about 39 percentage points to total sales growth, while unit volumes declined approximately 3 percentage points.

Gross margin rose about 1,400 basis points year over year to 83%. Fields said roughly 1,050 basis points of the improvement came from approximately $50 million in IEEPA tariff refunds received during the quarter and recorded in cost of goods sold. Excluding the refunds, gross margin still increased about 350 basis points, helped by pricing and lower tariff rates compared with the prior year.

Adjusted EBITDA increased 93% to $168 million, while adjusted net income rose to $105 million, or $1.75 per diluted share, from $51 million, or $0.89 per share, a year earlier. The tariff refunds added approximately $40 million to adjusted net income, or about $0.68 per diluted share, Fields said.

The company ended the quarter with $344 million in cash, up from $170 million a year earlier. During the quarter, it repurchased about $50 million of its common stock. Fields said e.l.f. Beauty also expects to use some cash later in the fiscal year to make the first Rhode earn-out payment, given the brand’s performance.

Pricing Test Targets 10% of e.l.f. SKUs

Amin said the company expanded a price-discovery test that began in May from one product to most e.l.f. brand stock-keeping units. The effort followed the company’s $1 price increase last August, which was implemented in response to tariffs and inflationary pressures.

The company concluded that about 90% of e.l.f. products were appropriately priced and will return to their pre-test price levels in the coming weeks. However, it identified about 10% of SKUs where lower prices generated enough unit growth to support maintaining the reductions.

“We actually believe we can grow gross profit dollars over time through that pricing action,” Amin said of the products retaining lower prices.

The company plans to reinvest the $50 million in tariff refunds during the remainder of the year, primarily through selected price reductions and higher marketing spending. Fields said marketing and digital investment was 22% of sales in the first quarter, below expectations because of spending timing. For the full year, marketing and digital spending is expected to be at the high end of the company’s prior 23% to 25% range, and could run above that level from the second through fourth quarters.

Brand Expansion Across Categories and Markets

Amin highlighted expansion across the company’s portfolio. e.l.f. Cosmetics remains the top-ranked brand in unit share and second in dollar share, while e.l.f. Skin has advanced to the No. 11 mass skincare brand in the U.S., according to the company. The company plans to launch e.l.f. Skin at Dollar General this fall.

e.l.f. also entered haircare in June with a six-product e.l.f. Hair assortment priced at $10 or less. The line debuted through TikTok Shop and has launched exclusively at Target nationwide. Amin said nearly half of e.l.f. Hair purchasers are new to the e.l.f. brand. The products are being sold in Target’s haircare aisle, and the Target exclusivity will continue through the current fiscal year.

• e.l.f. plans to expand its Boots presence in the U.K. this fall.
• The company expects to launch e.l.f. with Sephora in Brazil, its first entry into the world’s third-largest cosmetics market.
• Naturium is scheduled to launch with Sephora in Canada and Mexico this fall after reaching the No. 1 body ranking with Sephora in Australia and New Zealand, according to the company.
• Rhode is slated to launch with Sephora across 19 European countries in September.

Amin said Rhode’s latest summer product launch generated $27 million in direct-to-consumer sales in one day and added 90,000 new consumers, while more than 70% of sales came from existing customers. Rhode remains in fewer than 20% of Sephora stores globally, he said.

Raised Full-Year Outlook

For fiscal 2027, e.l.f. Beauty now forecasts adjusted EBITDA of $401 million to $407 million, compared with its previous outlook of $379 million to $385 million. It expects adjusted net income of $212 million to $215 million and adjusted earnings per diluted share of $3.50 to $3.55, up from prior projections of $198 million to $201 million and $3.27 to $3.32, respectively.

The company expects Rhode to contribute about 13 percentage points of fiscal-year sales growth before the acquisition is annualized in August, up from its prior expectation of nine percentage points. Organic net sales growth is now projected at 6% to 7% for the year, with 10% to 12% organic growth expected over the balance of the fiscal year.

For the second quarter, the company expects total sales growth in the mid-30% range, supported by improving e.l.f. trends and pipeline shipments related to Rhode’s European Sephora launch. Fields said higher freight costs are included in the company’s current outlook, while it has not experienced new supplier-driven input-cost increases.

About e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF)

e.l.f. Beauty NYSE: ELF is an American cosmetics company known for offering an extensive range of affordable, trend-driven makeup and skincare products. The company's portfolio spans foundations, lipsticks, mascaras, brushes, serums, masks and other beauty essentials, all positioned at accessible price points. e.l.f. Beauty maintains a direct-to-consumer platform through its e-commerce site and engages in widespread retail partnerships with major chains such as Target, Walmart, Ulta Beauty and Amazon.

Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Oakland, California, e.l.f.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source