The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (EL) AI Stock Analysis

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. manufactures, markets, and distributes skin care, makeup, fragrance, and hair care products worldwide. Its skin care portfolio includes moisturizers, serums, cleansers, toners, and sun care. The company's makeup segment offers lipsticks, mascaras, foundations, eyeshadows, and nail polishes, along with related tools and accessories. Its fragrance offerings comprise eau de parfum sprays, colognes, lotions, powders, and scented candles, while hair care includes shampoos, conditioners, styling products, and hair color. The company markets its products under brands such as Estee Lauder, Clinique, M·A·C, La Mer, and Aveda across department stores, specialty retailers, online platforms, freestanding stores, and duty-free shops.

Estée Lauder's revenue experienced multi-year declines, dropping from $17.74B in FY2022 to $15.91B in FY2023, $15.61B in FY2024, and $14.33B in FY2025. In FY2026, revenue rebounded 5.0% to $15.05B, supported by a 5-year revenue CAGR of -1.5%. Gross margin recovered to 75.5% in FY2026, while operating margin reached 11.1%, up from 8.0% in FY2025. Net income was $182.0M in FY2026 with an EPS of $2.51, following a net loss of -$1.13B in FY2025. In the latest quarter ended June 30, 2026, quarterly revenue increased 6.3% year-over-year, while quarterly earnings declined 45.5%.

As of June 30, 2026, Estée Lauder held $3.50B in cash and short-term investments against $9.25B in total debt, resulting in net debt of $5.75B. Shareholders' equity stood at $3.81B, with a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.43 and a current ratio of 1.22. In FY2026, the company generated $1.77B in operating cash flow and $1.32B in free cash flow. Capital deployment included $457.0M in capital expenditures, $508.0M in dividends paid, and $70.0M in share buybacks.

EL trades at a trailing P/E of 209.1x and a forward P/E of 29.8x, both above the median of its S&P 500 Consumer Defensive peers of 23.3x and 15.2x, respectively. The company's enterprise value of $41.50B reflects an EV/EBITDA multiple of 24.1x, higher than the peer median of 13.3x. Price-to-sales sits at 2.5x compared to the peer median of 1.6x. Over the past year, EL stock returned 9.5%, lagging the S&P 500 benchmark return of 16.8%, while over the past five years, EL fell 64.8% versus an 83.0% gain for the benchmark.

Estée Lauder pays an annual forward dividend of $1.40 per share, delivering a dividend yield of 1.34% with a payout ratio of 55.8%. The company has paid quarterly dividends for 31 consecutive years, though its 5-year annualized dividend growth stands at -1.2%. The last ex-dividend date was August 31, 2026.

Wall Street coverage includes 9 Strong Buy, 6 Buy, 14 Hold, 0 Sell, and 1 Strong Sell recommendations. The mean price target is $108.20, representing a 3.5% premium to the last closing price of $104.54. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2027, consensus estimates project revenue of $15.73B and EPS of $3.32, implying 32.4% EPS growth. The company beat EPS estimates in each of the last 4 quarters, with its next earnings report scheduled for November 2, 2026.

This page is an AI-written research summary of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (EL). The text was generated on October 30, 2026 from Quotelinks data as of October 16, 2026 (company profile, annual results, latest balance sheet, valuation, price performance and analyst estimates). An automatic check rejects any draft that contains a figure not found in that data. It is not investment advice; verify figures on the linked tabs before making decisions.

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