Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL) stayed green on Tuesday. The stock has dropped 28% over the past three months. The beauty company is set to report its third quarter 2025 earnings results on Thursday, May 1, before market open. Here are a few points to note ahead of the earnings report:
Revenue
Estee Lauder has forecast reported sales for the third quarter of 2025 to decrease 10-12% year-over-year. Analysts are projecting sales of $3.52 billion, which indicates a drop of nearly 11% from the third quarter of 2024. In the second quarter of 2025, net sales declined 6% YoY to $4 billion.
Earnings
EL has guided for adjusted earnings per share in Q3 2025 to range between $0.20-0.30, representing a decrease of 69-79% YoY. Analysts are predicting EPS of $0.30, which implies a decline of 69% from Q3 2024. In Q2 2025, adjusted EPS fell 29% YoY to $0.62.
Points to note
Estee Lauder has been facing headwinds from weakness in its Asia travel retail business and muted consumer sentiment in China and Korea, and it expects these challenges to continue in the near term.
The company expects a double-digit decline in sales in its global travel retail business during the second half of fiscal year 2025. This may be reflected in the third quarter results. Meanwhile, EL anticipates retail sales trends, excluding travel retail, to see a meaningful pickup in the third quarter of 2025.
Estee Lauder is working on expanding its portfolio across channels, markets and price tiers within prestige beauty that have high growth potential. The company sees opportunity for expansion in the US, UK, and emerging markets.
EL’s Profit Recovery and Growth Plan (PRGP) which is focused on driving sales and expanding margins is likely to have generated some yields in the third quarter.