Estée Lauder Stock Falls Over Long-Time CEO’s Departure, Sluggish Guidance: But Retail Says Hang On

Shares of MAC lipstick maker Estée Lauder Companies fell over 3% in Monday’s pre-market trading after the firm’s guidance and long-time CEO Fabrizio Freda’s departure announcement disappointed investors.

Estée Lauder announced adjusted earnings per share of $0.64 for the quarter-ended June 2024 compared to an estimate of $0.26. Revenue came in at $3.87 billion versus an estimate of $3.81 billion. Although the quarterly earnings surpassed Street expectations, the firm’s outlook, slowdown in China and the CEO’s departure took the limelight.

The company announced that Freda intends to retire at the end of fiscal year 2025 and the board has considered many highly qualified internal and external candidates for the position. Until his successor is appointed, Freda will continue to lead and oversee the firm’s strategic, financial and investment priorities, including the company’s profit recovery and growth plan.

The firm's 2025 guidance also didn’t help in improving sentiment, as it expects reported and organic net sales to range between a decrease of 1% to an increase of 2% versus the prior year, versus an estimate of a 6.43% rise. Reported diluted net earnings per common share are projected to be between $2.52 and $2.76, compared with an estimate of $3.96.

Another pain point is the firm’s sluggish performance and low expectations in China. Estee Lauder reported a 3% decline in net sales across the Asia-Pacific region, largely due to ongoing softness in the prestige beauty segment in mainland China, even during holidays and key shopping periods.

Looking ahead to fiscal 2025, CEO Freda noted that the company expects continued declines in China’s prestige beauty market, driven by persistently weak consumer sentiment.

However, retail investors on Stocktwits are ignoring the slew of concerns and are focusing on the upbeat earnings, with the sentiment meter flipping into the ‘extremely bullish’ territory (91/100), hitting a one-year high. The move was accompanied by ‘extremely high’ message volumes (84/100).

Meanwhile, some Stocktwits users are trying to find the silver lining in the leadership change report. One user named ‘Khanvict27’ believes a new CEO coming in might actually help in revamping the firm.