Estee Lauder Stock Surges 5% Pre-Market As Goldman Sachs Upgrades It To ‘Buy’ Citing Sales Rebound

Goldman Sachs said that it sees a "fundamental inflection" for the company with the business potentially returning to sales growth as soon as the September quarter.

Estee Lauder (EL) shares jumped 5% before the bell on Monday after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral,’ noting that the cosmetics giant was seeing a return to sales growth.

Goldman Sachs also raised its price target on the stock to $115, from $76, according to TheFly. The firm said that it sees a "fundamental inflection" for the company with the business potentially returning to sales growth as soon as the September quarter.

The firm noted that this should be followed by a return to double-digit earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) margins in fiscal 2027 and beyond.

Retail sentiment on Estee Lauder remained unchanged in the ‘extremely bullish’ territory compared to a day ago, with message volumes at ‘high’ levels, according to data from Stocktwits.

Goldman Sachs said it was more optimistic on the shares, citing the attractiveness of the prestige beauty industry and Estee's stabilizing business trends in its key China market.

Estee Lauder had been facing tepid demand in the Asia travel retail channel, particularly in one of its major markets, China. Under CEO Stéphane de La Faverie, Estee has been trying to boost sales by partnering with Amazon to launch products on its platform and also introducing newer variants of its existing product lines.

In August, CFO Akhil Shrivastava said that the beauty and cosmetics giant expects tariff-related headwinds to impact profitability by about $100 million in fiscal 2026. The company imports products into the U.S. from European and Asian countries.

Shares of Estee Lauder have gained nearly 17% this year but have declined over 7% in the last 12 months.

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