Estée Lauder Stock Plummets. Ugly Guidance Is Spooking Investors.

Estée Lauder’s guidance fell well short of Wall Street’s expectations. (Dreamstime)

Estée Lauder stock was tumbling on Wednesday after the cosmetics company met analysts’ earnings targets but issued softer-than-expected guidance.

Shares in the La Mer owner dropped 7.6% to $83 ahead of the opening bell. Futures tracking the S&P 500 were 0.1% lower.

The selloff came after Estée Lauder reported quarterly adjusted earnings of 9 cents a share, as sales fell 12% from a year ago to $3.41 billion. Analysts were expecting earnings of 9 cents a share on sales of $3.39 billion, according to a FactSet poll.

Skin care, makeup, and hair care sales tumbled over the three months ended June 30, although sales of fragrances ticked up 2%, which the company said was due to solid demand for its luxury Le Labo and Jo Malone brands.

Guidance looked soft. Estée Lauder said it’s expecting adjusted earnings of between $1.90 and $2.10 for its current fiscal year, which ends June 30, 2026. The midpoint of those figures is well below the $2.20 a year that analysts had been forecasting.

The company also said it expects U.S. tariffs to hit its bottom line by about $100 million over the fiscal year.

Weak demand in China and the challenge posed by rival cosmetics sellers on platforms like Amazon.com and TikTok have been headwinds for Estée Lauder this year, although shares haven’t felt the pain. The stock has gained 20% in 2025, compared with a 9% jump for the S&P 500.

Write to George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com