Busted Beauty: Giants Show Some Slow Down

Revlon, Ulta Beauty and Sephora All Show Declines

Ruh roh. Blaming (i) a migration of consumers to specialty beauty retailers, (ii) ecomm, (iii) store closures, (iv) inventory reductions among mass retail partners, and (v) inventory rebalancing, Revlon Inc. ($REV) reported dogsh*t numbers this past week with EBITDA numbers posting nearly 49% below analyst estimates. The bonds promptly traded down. Curiously, Ulta Beauty Inc. ($ULTA) equity is off roughly 25% the last three months. Sephora ($LVMH), too, is experiencing lower numbers and "traffic is slowing down a bit...." But, don't worry: beauty is impervious to ecommerce because women want to try makeup in store. Mmmm hmmm.