The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (EL) is listed on NYSE and operates in the Household & Personal Products industry (Consumer Defensive sector).
The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. manufactures, markets, and sells skin care, makeup, fragrance, and hair care products worldwide. The company offers a range of skin care products, including moisturizers, serums, cleansers, toners, body care, exfoliators, acne care and oil correctors, facial masks, cleansing devices, and sun care products; and makeup products, such as lipsticks, lip glosses, mascaras, foundations, eyeshadows, nail polishes, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools. It also provides fragrance products in various forms comprising eau de parfum sprays and colognes, as well as lotions, powders, creams, candles, and soaps; and hair care products that include shampoos, conditioners, styling products, treatment, finishing sprays, and hair color products, as well as sells ancillary products and services. The company offers its products under Estée Lauder, Aramis, Clinique, Lab Series, Origins, M·A·C, Bobbi Brown, La Mer, Aveda, Jo Malone London, Bumble and bumble, Darphin, Smashbox, Le Labo, Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle, GLAMGLOW, By Kilian, BECCA, Too Faced, Dr. Jart+, DECIEM, and The Ordinary brands. It also holds license arrangements for Tommy Hilfiger, Donna Karan New York, DKNY, Michael Kors, and Ermenegildo Zegna brands. The company sells its products through department stores, specialty-multi retailers, upscale perfumeries and pharmacies, and salons and spas; freestanding stores; its own and authorized retailer websites; third-p...
| Rating | Analysts |
|---|---|
| Strong Buy | 1 |
| Buy | 20 |
| Hold | 21 |
| Sell | 4 |
| Strong Sell | 0 |
Over the past three fiscal years, the company has faced a challenging environment, with revenue consistently decreasing at a CAGR of -5.2%, from $15.91 billion in 2023 to $14.29 billion in 2025. Despite this revenue decline, gross margins improved by 2.6 percentage points, reaching 73.9% in 2025, indicating effective cost management at the production level. However, operating margins were inconsistent, ultimately declining by 2.8 percentage points to 6.7%, while net margins deteriorated significantly by 14.3 percentage points, ending at -7.9% in 2025, reflecting increased financial pressures and possibly higher non-operating expenses. The company's earnings per share (EPS) mirrored this downward trend, falling from $2.79 to -$3.15, highlighting a significant profitability challenge.
In terms of cash generation, the company experienced a notable turnaround in free cash flow (FCF), which improved from a negative $1.56 billion in 2023 to a positive $670 million in 2025, translating to an FCF margin of 4.7%. This shift suggests improved capital expenditure management and operational cash flow efficiency, despite the overall decline in operating cash flow (OCF) from $1.73 billion to $1.27 billion. The company's net debt increased consistently, reaching $6.52 billion by 2025, which, coupled with a negative interest coverage ratio of -1.57x, indicates potential liquidity concerns. Despite these challenges, the company maintained a stable asset turnover ratio of 0.69, and its working capital efficiency improved, as evidenced by a decrease in the cash conversion cycle from 121 days to 106 days. The slight reduction in share count by 0.2% through buybacks, although not material, reflects a commitment to enhancing shareholder value amidst a difficult operating landscape.