Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (EL) jumped roughly 7% in premarket trading on Wednesday, hitting $90.81, after the beauty company posted quarterly results that topped analyst expectations and showed its turnaround continuing to take shape.

Net sales for the fiscal fourth quarter, ended June 30, climbed 6.3% to $3.63 billion, beating Wall Street’s estimate of $3.55 billion. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.39, ahead of the $0.32 analysts had expected. The quarterly loss narrowed sharply to $116 million, or $0.32 per share, from $546 million, or $1.51 per share, in the same quarter a year ago. The quarter closed out Estée Lauder’s 2026 fiscal year.

ESTÉE LAUDER $EL Q4’26 EARNINGS HIGHLIGHTS 🔹 Revenue: $3.6B (Est. $3.54B) 🟢; +6% YoY 🔹 Adj. EPS: $0.39; +100% YoY 🔹 Adjusted Operating Income: $267M; +95% YoY FY27 Guide: 🔹 Adj. EPS: $3.10-$3.35 (Est. $3.18) 🟢 🔹 Organic Net Sales Growth: 3% to 5% 🔹 Adjusted Operating… pic.twitter.com/1feH2FxqRK — Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) August 19, 2026

Three of the company’s four product categories grew during the quarter. Skin care was a strong performer, with sales up 8.7% to $1.85 billion. Fragrance jumped 10% to $618 million, and makeup rose 2.9% to $1.01 billion. Hair care was the one soft spot, dipping 0.7% to $140 million. Fragrance’s strength tracks a broader industry trend: scent has been among the fastest-growing categories in global prestige beauty in recent years, a shift that has favored houses with deep perfume portfolios like Jo Malone London and Kilian Paris.

The results ended three straight years of annual revenue declines, a stretch that had wiped out roughly $100 billion in market value since the company’s post-Covid peak in early 2022. That slide was driven largely by weak demand in China and a sharp downturn in travel retail — the duty-free channel that had powered the company’s post-pandemic boom — as the surge in at-home skincare purchases cooled.

Turnaround Picks Up Speed

CEO Stéphane de La Faverie, who took the helm in January 2025 after more than a decade at the company overseeing much of its brand portfolio, has been pushing hard on profitability. The company said it delivered $1.2 billion in total gross benefits under its profit recovery and growth plan, hitting the high end of its previously disclosed range.

Estée Lauder confirmed a net reduction of 10,000 positions, also at the top of its guided range. The company said those cuts will drive a 50% increase in productivity among corporate employees. Total cumulative charges came in slightly above the high end of the $1.5 billion to $1.7 billion guided range, meaning most of the program’s restructuring costs are now on the books.

“We ended the year on a high note, as organic sales growth accelerated to 5% for our fourth consecutive quarter of growth and stronger profitability,” de La Faverie said.

Outlook Raised

For the year ahead, Estée Lauder maintained its organic net sales growth guidance of 3% to 5%, driven by continued strength in fragrance and skin care, along with an expected return to growth in makeup.

The company raised its adjusted operating margin outlook to a range of 12.7% to 13.5%, up from the earlier preliminary range of 12.5% to 13%. Estée Lauder also reaffirmed its full-year 2027 sales outlook.

The company has been expanding its reach to younger consumers through Amazon and TikTok Shop, while speeding up product launches across its brand portfolio, which includes La Mer, Jo Malone London, MAC, Smashbox and Kilian Paris. The e-commerce push marks a notable shift for a company that historically leaned on department-store counters and airport duty-free shops for distribution.

At the close on August 18, EL was trading at $84.27.