Estée Lauder raised its full-year outlook on Monday after a quarter that beat expectations, and the growth came less from skincare than from scent.
First-quarter diluted earnings per share reached 64 US cents against analyst estimates of 51 cents, and sales climbed 7 percent to $3.7 billion. The stock rose 3.9 percent in pre-market trading.
The turnaround argument has rested on reconnecting with consumers rather than on opening new categories, and this quarter supplies the thesis with its cleanest evidence in some time.
The company also launched Glimmer this summer, a high-end scent fronted by Hailee Steinfeld and its most significant fragrance introduction in years, aimed squarely at a younger shopper.
What follows is whether fragrance can carry the group while skincare and makeup stabilize. Scent has one advantage in a soft market, which is that a bottle remains the most attainable object a luxury group sells.
Organic sales are now expected to grow 4 to 5.5 percent for the fiscal year, up from a prior range of 3 to 5 percent. The adjusted earnings per share outlook rose by 10 US cents.
