Estée Lauder's stock falls on weak outlook due to China declines

By Steve Gelsi

Beauty company's projected 2025 adjusted earnings misses analyst estimates

Estée Lauder Cos. stock was down 1.6% in morning trades Monday after the cosmetics company's outlook for fiscal 2025 came in below analyst estimates due partly to "persistent weak sentiment among Chinese consumers."

Estée Lauder (EL) said its fourth-quarter loss widened to $284 million, or 79 cents a share, from a loss of $33 million, or 9 cents a share, in the year-ago period.

Adjusted fourth-quarter earnings of 64 cents a share beat the FactSet consensus estimate of 26 cents a share.

Revenue rose 7% to $3.87 billion, ahead of the analyst projection of $3.81 billion.

For fiscal 2025, Estée Lauder said it expects adjusted earnings of $2.75 a share to $2.95 a share, below the analyst estimate of $3.97 a share.

Estee Lauder's stock fell $1.52 to $93.45.

L'Oreal's (FR:OR) stock price in Paris slumped after the warning from Estee Lauder.

Separately, it was revealed that Chief Executive Fabrizio Freda plans to retire from the Estée Lauder helm at the end of fiscal year 2025 after 16 years in the job.

Prior to Monday trading, Estée Lauder's stock was down more than 35% in 2024, compared with a 16.5% run-up by the S&P 500 SPX.

-Steve Gelsi

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

08-19-24 0952ET

Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.