Estee Lauder shares rise after earnings beat expectations

Estee Lauder Cos. shares rose 5.1% in Wednesday premarket trading after the beauty company reported fiscal third-quarter earnings and sales that beat expectations. Estee Lauder's portfolio of brands includes the namesake line, La Mer, and MAC. Net income totaled $555 million, or $1.51 per share, up from $372 million, or 99 cents per share, last year. Adjusted EPS was $1.55, ahead of the FactSet estimate of $1.30. Sales totaled $3.74 billion, up from $3.37 billion and well past the $3.57 billion FactSet consensus. "We had anticipated a gradual moderation of growth in China and travel retail starting in the quarter, which didn't happen, and that contributed to our overachievement," said the company's chief executive, Fabrizio Freda, in a statement. "We continue to see strength in several of our key engines of growth and, as a result, we are again raising our net sales and EPS guidance for the year." Estee Lauder expects full-year sales to increase between 7% and 8%. The FactSet guidance is for $14.56 billion, up about 6.4% year-over-year. And Estee Lauder is guiding for EPS between $4.72 and $4.79, and adjusted EPS between $5.15 and $5.19. FactSet is guiding for EPS of $5.06. Estee Lauder has gained 32% for the year to date, outpacing the S&P 500 index , which is up 17.5% for the period.

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