News · The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (EL) · Consumer Defensive

Estée Lauder Companies rises 1.2% as management readies Q1 results and a marketing shuffle

Session of October 19, 2026 · Published October 20, 2026 · 3 min read

What happened

Estée Lauder Companies (EL) rose 1.2% on October 19, 2026, after it named Krista Lee Berger as Senior Vice President, Global Marketing for Clinique and set fiscal 2027 first-quarter results for November 2. The stock closed at $105.78, trading volume was 1.1 times its 20-day average and the stock opened 0.1% above the previous close. The company said it will report fiscal 2027 first-quarter results on November 2, 2026, and host a live webcast of its conference call and presentation at 8:30 a.m. ET featuring President and CEO Stéphane de La Faverie and other executives. GuruFocus reported the Clinique appointment; Business Wire reported the earnings-date announcement.

Closing price over the last 30 trading sessions. On October 19, 2026, EL closed at $105.78, up 1.2% on the day and 4.0% higher than 30 sessions earlier.

How big was the move

The session was an ordinary one for EL: the move measured 0.4 times a typical daily move for this stock. Over the last five sessions the stock rose 5.7%, while the S&P 500 fell 1.5% over the same span; the S&P 500 itself rose 0.4% on October 19. The Consumer Defensive sector median fell 0.8% on the day, so the stock’s performance was 2.0 percentage points better than the sector median. With a beta of 1.56, the stock tends to move more than the market, and the session matched its routine volatility.

Each bar is one day's price change; the outlined bar is October 19, 2026. A typical daily move over the past year was 3.0%, so the latest move equals 0.4 times that. Moves outside the dashed lines (about 6.0%) are unusual.

The technical picture

The stock traded above its key moving averages: it was 8.7% above its 20-day moving average and 9.1% above its 50-day moving average, while sitting 15.3% above its 200-day moving average. The 50-day average is above the 200-day average, a sign of an established uptrend, and the stock has spent 11 consecutive trading days above the 200-day average. The 14-day Relative Strength Index stood at 65, within a neutral range between 30 and 70. Over one month the stock rose 13.2% and over three months it rose 28.4%; it remained 13.0% below its 52-week high.

Closing price over the past year. EL ends the period 11.6% below its 52-week high, above its 50-day average ($96.93) and above its 200-day average ($91.70).

Fundamentals and valuation

On a trailing-12-month basis through the four quarters ended June 30, 2026, revenue was $15.05 billion, up 5.0% from a year earlier. Diluted earnings per share for that period were $0.49, while gross margin improved to 75.5% from 74.0% a year earlier and operating margin expanded to 11.1% from 1.8% a year earlier. Free-cash-flow margin was 8.7% and return on invested capital was 4.1%. The balance sheet showed net debt of 3.5 times EBITDA and share count increased by 0.7% over one year.

Quarterly revenue by period end. The latest quarter brought $3.6B, 6.3% more than the same quarter a year earlier.

The stock’s valuation appeared elevated: price to trailing earnings stood at 215.9 times trailing earnings, the highest reading of the past five years against a five-year median of 65.3 times earnings. Price to forward earnings was 31.9 times expected earnings and free-cash-flow yield was 3.5%. PromtFinance scores rank the company high on Growth, Quality, Momentum and Revisions, but very weak on Value and Stability, reflecting strong fundamental momentum alongside a stretched valuation.

Earnings and analyst expectations

Estée Lauder Companies last reported on August 19, 2026, when it posted earnings per share of $0.39 against $0.32 expected, 22.2% above estimates. That result continued a streak of 13 consecutive quarters beating estimates, with an average surprise over the last four reports of 37.8% above estimates. Historically the stock has tended to react negatively in the two trading days after recent reports, with a typical two-day reaction of a fall of 5.2%. The next report is scheduled for November 2, 2026, and the company’s presentation and webcast will be closely watched for updated margin and cash-flow commentary.

Diluted earnings per share by quarter. The latest quarter shows -$0.32, against -$1.51 in the same quarter a year earlier.

Analysts’ consensus rating is Hold from 46 analysts, with 46% of those ratings at Buy. The consensus price target is $103.53, which is 2.1% below the closing price on October 19. Investors will watch for any changes to guidance or analyst revisions ahead of the earnings release.

What to watch

November 2, 2026: fiscal 2027 first-quarter results and live webcast at 8:30 a.m. ET.
The company’s commentary on Clinique strategy following the appointment of Krista Lee Berger as Senior Vice President, Global Marketing for the brand.
Any updates to margin guidance or cash-flow commentary in the November 2 presentation.
Changes in net debt relative to EBITDA, given the reported net debt of 3.5 times EBITDA.
Analyst revisions to forward estimates and the consensus price target ahead of the earnings release.

Full EL analysis: scores, chart and financials →