Head to head · SEC data as of July 18, 2026
Estée Lauder
42
Quality score · out of 100
Ulta Beauty
84
Quality score · out of 100
Ulta Beauty comes in ahead: a quality score of 84 versus 42 for Estée Lauder. Ulta Beauty wins on net margin (9.4% vs -1.7%), ROE (46.1% vs -6.2%) and revenue growth (14.8% vs 0.6%). Estée Lauder answers with gross margin (74.7% vs 39.3%).
| Metric | Estée Lauder | Ulta Beauty |
|---|---|---|
| Quality score (0-100) | 42 | 84 |
| Net margin | -1.7% | 9.4% |
| Gross margin | 74.7% | 39.3% |
| ROE | -6.2% | 46.1% |
| Net debt/EBITDA | 3.74× | 0.34× |
| FCF margin | 8.7% | 8.9% |
| Revenue growth (annualized) | 0.6% | 14.8% |
| Earnings growth (annualized) | — | 50.6% |
TTM metrics with official SEC data, refreshed daily. Bold green marks the winner of each metric. A dash means the metric doesn't apply or isn't reliable.
Estée Lauder. Estée Lauder is the premium beauty group: its brands (La Mer, Clinique, MAC, Estée Lauder itself) live off high-end skincare. Years of dependence on the Chinese consumer and Asian duty-free hurt badly when that engine stalled.
Ulta Beauty. Ulta Beauty is America's beauty department store: luxury and drugstore makeup, skincare and hair salons under one roof, plus a loyalty program a large share of the country's women belong to.
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What this comparison doesn't tell you
The score measures business quality, not whether the stock is cheap or expensive: the better company can be the worse investment if you overpay. For the valuation verdict, enter each one's current price in the analyzer:
Who has the stronger fundamentals today, Estée Lauder or Ulta Beauty?
By the StockSemáforo model (profitability, growth and financial strength, built on official SEC data), Ulta Beauty scores higher: 84 versus 42 out of 100. The score is recomputed nightly with the latest filings.
Does that make Ulta Beauty the better investment?
No. The score measures business quality, not valuation: an excellent company can trade at an excessive price and be a poor investment at that price. To find out whether it's cheap or expensive, enter its current quote in the StockSemáforo analyzer.
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Who's behind the methodology and model · how the score is computed
Data: official SEC filings (EDGAR) · Recomputed on July 18, 2026
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