California-based beauty brand e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. announced on May 22 that its annual sales have surpassed $1.02 billion, up 77% from the previous year. This is the highest revenue increase ever for a U.S. beauty retailer.
Sales for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2024, increased 71% year over year to $321.1 million, supported by strong performance across the retail and e-commerce channels. Meanwhile, GAAP net income declined to $14.5 million from $16.2 million in the prior-year period but increased significantly for the full year to $127.7 million from $61.5 million a year earlier.
Founded in 2004 by Joseph Shamah and Scott Vincent Borba, e.l.f. Beauty is a trendy budget cosmetics brand. The company has also been able to increase sales without advertising costs by spreading word of mouth through influencers.
“Fiscal 2024 marked our strongest year of net sales growth on record, a continuation of the exceptional, consistent, category-leading growth we’ve delivered,” said Tarang Amin, e.l.f. Beauty’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “In Q4, we grew net sales by 71% and expanded our market share by 325 basis points, marking our 21st consecutive quarter of net sales and market share growth. As we look ahead, we believe we are still in the early innings of unlocking the full potential we see for e.l.f. Beauty across cosmetics, skincare and international markets.”
Also last October, e.l.f. Beauty acquired Naturium, a fast-growing high-performance skin care brand, for $333 million. The acquisition is expected to further the company’s mission to “make the best of beauty accessible to every eye, lip, face and skin concern.”
Looking ahead, the company expects a 20-22% increase in net sales in FY2025.