Estee Lauder (EL) Earnings Preview: Sales and earnings anticipated to see a pickup in Q1 2026

Shares of the Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL) were up over 2% on Friday. The stock has gained 12% over the past three months. The beauty products company is slated to report its earnings results for the first quarter of 2026 on Thursday, October 30, before market open. Here’s a look at what to expect from the earnings report:

Revenue

Analysts are projecting revenue of $3.38 billion for Estee Lauder in the first quarter of 2026, which points to a slight uptick from $3.36 billion reported in the same period a year ago. In the fourth quarter of 2025, net sales decreased 12% year-over-year to $3.41 billion.

Earnings

The consensus estimate for earnings per share in Q1 2026 is $0.17, which implies an increase of 21% from the prior-year quarter. In Q4 2025, adjusted EPS fell 85% YoY to $0.09.

Points to note

Estee Lauder expects organic net sales for the first quarter of 2026 to be down low-single digits to slightly positive, which reflects high-single-digit growth in the global travel retail business. The company also anticipates a return to solid growth in Mainland China and a more moderate decline in the remainder of its business. In the fourth quarter, organic sales decreased 13% YoY, with declines across all categories and regions.

As part of its Beauty Reimagined strategy, EL is revamping its portfolio and focusing on opportunities that will deliver the highest returns over the medium to long term. The company is working on gaining traction in high-growth emerging markets where it sees significant potential to drive sales. Another key area of focus is product innovation. The cosmetics maker aims for innovation to represent over 25% of sales in fiscal year 2026. These efforts may have yielded some benefits in the first quarter.  

EL is expected to continue to benefit from its Profit Recovery and Growth Plan (PRGP) efforts, which are expected to help drive margin expansion through fiscal year 2026.

Estee Lauder has made changes to its segment reporting, and from the first quarter of 2026, plans to report its results under four new geographic regions – the Americas, EUKEM, Asia/Pacific, and Mainland China. The Americas will include North America and Latin America, while EUKEM comprises Europe, the United Kingdom and Ireland and Emerging Markets.