E.l.f. Beauty CEO: ‘We did great’ during COVID

E.l.F Beauty Inc (NYSE: ELF) reported its financial results for the fiscal fourth quarter on Thursday that topped Wall Street estimates. For fiscal 2022, the company now forecasts up to 10% annualised growth in sales.

E.l.F Beauty’s financial results for the fourth quarter

E.l.F generated $92.7 million (£65.32 million) of sales in the fourth quarter that represents a 24% year over year increase, attributed primarily to eCommerce. Adjusted for non-recurring items, it earned 16 cents per share.

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CEO Tarang Amin sat with CNBC to discuss the company’s eCommerce growth during the COVID-19 crisis on Thursday. According to the chief executive, as restrictions started to ease in recent months, a resurgence in colour cosmetics and skincare was evident. On CNBC’s “Closing Bell”, he said:

“As a company, we did great amidst the pandemic, and I’m particularly excited about the vaccine rollouts, which will get consumers about their normal lives and what it will mean for our business. In the short term, we’re facing the global imbalance of containers leading to limited supply and higher costs. But in the long term, imbalances tend to balance out, so I’m not worried.”

E.l.F Beauty picked up 100 basis points of market share in 2020

Amin said that the company is focusing on continuing momentum. E.l.F Beauty picked up 100 basis points of market share amidst the pandemic last year, becoming the only top-five brand that expanded its market share in 2020.  

“We’ve been executing well on a strategy over this time, including our ability to engage Gen Z through our digital efforts. Our online business was up triple digits last year. I think we’re really firing on all cylinders.”

E.l.F Beauty secured a spot in the list of very few companies that launched new products amidst the health emergency last year that still grabbed consumers’ attention. This ability to innovate, as per the chief executive, is what distinguishes the E.l.F from the rest of the competition.  

Shares of the company opened at $28.58 per share on Friday and are currently exchanging hands at $28.26 per share. In comparison, the stock had started the year 2021 at a lower $25.10 per share. E.l.F performed largely upbeat in the stock market last year with an annual gain of more than 60%. At the time of writing, the NYSE-listed firm has a market cap of $1.45 billion and a price to earnings ratio of 235.19.