ULTA vs ELF Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Compare Ulta Beauty and e.l.f. Cosmetics by revenue growth, beauty retail market share, operating margins, pricing strategy, and analyst upside.
Use this Ulta Beauty vs e.l.f. Beauty comparison to evaluate the key differences across valuation, growth, profitability, and risk before making an investment decision.
ULTA holds the edge across 4 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. ULTA leads on both 1-year return (-3.82%) and forward P/E quality (15.05x vs 21.54x for ELF), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for ULTA (+30.03%) than for ELF (-2.96%).
| Metric | ULTA | ELF |
|---|---|---|
| AI score | 41.7 | 31.6 |
| AI rank | #977 | #2167 |
| Latest close | $483.52 | $79.03 |
| 1M return | +3.97% | +25.09% |
| 6M return | -29.25% | -11.24% |
| 1Y return | -3.82% | -31.90% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | ULTA | ELF |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $9.52K (-4.8%) started 2025-07-23 | $6.81K (-31.9%) started 2025-07-22 |
| 5Y ago | $14.04K (+40.4%) started 2021-07-26 | $30.42K (+204.2%) started 2021-07-22 |
| 10Y ago | $18.63K (+86.3%) started 2016-07-25 | $29.82K (+198.2%) started 2016-09-22 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | ULTA | ELF |
|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $20.62B | $4.66B |
| Trailing P/E | 17.99 | 183.79 |
| Forward P/E | 15.05 | 21.54 |
| Price/Sales | 1.83 | 17.36 |
| EV/Revenue | 1.79 | 17.02 |
| Analyst target | $623.58 | $76.69 |
| Target upside | +30.03% | -2.96% |
| Metric | ULTA | ELF |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth | 11.10% | 35.10% |
| Earnings growth | 15.50% | N/A |
| EPS growth | +15.50% | N/A |
| FCF margin | +7.66% | +31.48% |
| Operating margin | 14.17% | N/A |
| Profit margin | 9.35% | -0.23% |
| ROIC proxy | 47.45% | -0.29% |
| Return on equity | 47.45% | -0.29% |
| Dividend yield | N/A | 0.00% |
| Beta | 0.88 | 2.39 |
| Debt/equity | 89.21 | 81.10 |
| Current ratio | 1.31 | 3.07 |
| Quick ratio | 0.20 | 1.81 |
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | ULTA | ELF |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growth | -4.84% | -31.90% |
| CAGR | -4.85% | -31.92% | |
| Sharpe ratio | -0.10 | -0.27 | |
| Max drawdown | 36.23% | 66.20% | |
| Max daily drop | 14.24% | 35.04% | |
| Max wkly drop | 20.23% | 39.63% | |
| 5Y | Growth | +40.45% | +204.20% |
| CAGR | +7.04% | +24.92% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.24 | 0.60 | |
| Max drawdown | 44.56% | 77.26% | |
| Max daily drop | 15.34% | 35.04% | |
| Max wkly drop | 20.23% | 39.63% | |
| 10Y | Growth | +86.29% | +198.23% |
| CAGR | +6.42% | +11.76% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.24 | 0.40 | |
| Max drawdown | 64.92% | 77.26% | |
| Max daily drop | 29.55% | 35.04% | |
| Max wkly drop | 41.90% | 41.86% |
| Category | ULTA | ELF |
|---|---|---|
| Company | ULTA | ELF |
| Sector | Consumer Cyclical | N/A |
| Industry | Specialty Retail | N/A |
| Core business | N/A | N/A |
| Investor focus | N/A | N/A |
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