Estee Lauder (NYSE: EL) reported Q3 EPS of $1.17, $0.10 better than the analyst estimate of $1.07. Revenue for the quarter came in at $3.37 billion versus the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion.

• DILUTED EPS $.99, ADJUSTED DILUTED EPS $1.17
• COMPANY RAISES FULL-YEAR SALES AND ADJUSTED EARNINGS GUIDANCE

Fabrizio Freda, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “Our Company delivered another excellent quarter in what we expect to be an outstanding fiscal year. Many areas of our business that contributed to our strong first-half results continued to thrive in our third quarter, as we generated 13% sales growth and 17% adjusted earnings per share growth, each in constant currency. Among our multiple engines of growth, travel retail, online and Asia again were standouts, and we experienced strong momentum in other high growth channels and markets. Our performance this quarter reflected robust global demand across our portfolio, with virtually all our brands posting sales growth. Each of our three biggest brands grew globally, with exceptional growth in Estée Lauder. These results reflect our strong array of hero products, as well as product and service innovations that resonated well with today’s diverse global consumers.”

Mr. Freda added, “We continue to position our Company for sustainable, profitable growth and long-term shareholder value creation, with strategic actions and targeted investments to build our brands and strengthen our assets. Our ability to anticipate prestige beauty trends enables us to quickly deploy our resources to capture potential growth opportunities. Amplifying our digital initiative to drive brand engagement, trial and loyalty is a priority. We are raising our full-year constant currency sales growth forecast to between 11% and 12% and increasing our constant currency earnings per share growth estimate to 20% to 21%, before restructuring charges and the impact of the provisional tax act charges.”

GUIDANCE:

Estee Lauder sees Q4 2018 EPS of $4.38-$4.42, versus the consensus of $4.37.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Estee Lauder (EL) click here.