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Here are 1-3 brief analogies for Estee Lauder Companies (EL):

• The LVMH of prestige beauty.
• The Apple of high-end skincare and makeup.

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• Skincare: This category includes a wide range of products like moisturizers, serums, cleansers, and treatments designed to improve skin health and appearance.
• Makeup: Cosmetics such as foundations, lipsticks, mascaras, and eyeshadows used to enhance or alter facial features.
• Fragrance: Perfumes, colognes, and other scented products for personal use.
• Haircare: Products for washing, conditioning, styling, and treating hair.

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Estee Lauder Companies (EL) primarily sells its prestige skincare, makeup, fragrance, and hair care products to other companies, which then retail them to individual consumers. These major customers operate various retail channels globally, including department stores, specialty multi-brand retailers, perfumeries, and travel retail.

Major Customer Companies:

• Ulta Beauty (ULTA): A leading beauty retailer in the United States, offering a wide range of cosmetics, skincare, fragrance, and haircare products from Estee Lauder's portfolio.
• LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMUY): The luxury conglomerate that owns Sephora, a global prestige beauty retailer with a significant presence in many markets, distributing numerous Estee Lauder brands.
• Macy's (M): A major department store chain in the United States, historically a significant partner for prestige beauty brands like those under Estee Lauder, through its extensive network of physical stores and online platform.

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Stéphane de La Faverie President and Chief Executive Officer

Stéphane de La Faverie assumed the role of President and Chief Executive Officer in January 2025. He joined The Estée Lauder Companies in 2011. Prior to his current role, he served as Executive Group President, overseeing a portfolio of brands including Estée Lauder, AERIN Beauty, Jo Malone London, Le Labo, and others. Before joining Estée Lauder, Mr. de La Faverie served as General Manager for Giorgio Armani USA, a division of L'Oréal Paris, and held key positions at L'Oréal's Lancôme. He also played a significant role in the integration and expansion of The Ordinary brand following ELC's acquisition of DECIEM.

Akhil Shrivastava Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer

Akhil Shrivastava is set to become the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer on November 1, 2024, succeeding Tracey T. Travis. He joined The Estée Lauder Companies in 2015 and has held several senior finance roles, including Senior Vice President, Corporate Controller, where he oversaw corporate accounting, financial planning and analysis, and value chain finance. He also served as Senior Vice President, Treasurer, managing treasury functions, the enterprise risk program, and retirement funds. Mr. Shrivastava played a crucial role in the company's Profit Recovery and Growth Plan. Before his tenure at Estée Lauder, he spent 18 years at Procter & Gamble, holding various finance and leadership positions across Asia, North America, and global businesses, including Finance Director for Gillette, North America.

William P. Lauder Chairman of the Board

William P. Lauder is the Chairman of the Board of The Estée Lauder Companies, a position he has held since July 2009. He is the grandson of the company's founders, Estée and Joseph Lauder, and represents the third generation of family leadership. Mr. Lauder joined the company in 1986 and has held various leadership roles, including Chief Executive Officer from July 2004 to July 2009. He was responsible for overseeing global operations and several specialty brands as Chief Operating Officer, a role he held since January 2003. He also founded Origins Natural Resources Inc. in 1990, leading its introduction and development.

Jane Hertzmark Hudis Executive Group President, Chief Brand Officer

Jane Hertzmark Hudis holds the title of Executive Group President and Chief Brand Officer, and was the first woman to be named Executive Group President at ELC in 2020. She is responsible for shaping and advancing the company's portfolio of brands, which includes Estée Lauder, La Mer, Bobbi Brown, AERIN, Origins, and Aveda, among others. Ms. Hudis has been instrumental in growing the Estée Lauder brand to become the number one skincare brand globally and La Mer as the leading luxury skincare brand. Her previous roles include Estée Lauder Global Brand President, and President of Origins and BeautyBank. She is also a passionate advocate for leadership development, inclusion, and diversity, co-founding ELC's Women's Leadership Network in 2017.

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The Estee Lauder Companies (symbol: EL) faces several significant risks, primarily driven by its global operations and the dynamic nature of the beauty industry.

1. High Exposure to Asia-Pacific and Travel Retail Challenges: Estee Lauder has substantial exposure to Asian markets, particularly mainland China and the travel retail sector, which presents a significant risk to its recovery and growth. The company has experienced declines in net sales in skin care and makeup in the Asia-Pacific region, attributed to subdued consumer sentiment in China and lower conversion rates in travel retail. Geopolitical tensions, economic fluctuations, and potential health crises can disproportionately affect the travel retail segment, a key driver of Estee Lauder's past success.
2. Intense Competition and Shifting Consumer Preferences: The beauty industry is highly competitive, with numerous players vying for market share, including both established brands and emerging, often influencer-led, brands. Estee Lauder's success hinges on its ability to continuously innovate and quickly adapt to evolving market trends and changes in consumer preferences, especially among younger generations who may favor more affordable products or different beauty trends like Korean beauty. Failure to do so could lead to a loss of market share and reduced consumer loyalty.
3. Geopolitical Risks and Economic Uncertainty: Operating in a complex global environment, Estee Lauder is vulnerable to various geopolitical risks and economic uncertainties that can materially adversely affect its business. These include the impacts of tariffs, sanctions, and trade tensions between countries, such as unresolved U.S.-China tariffs, which can hinder Asia-Pacific sales. Additionally, inflationary pressures and supply chain disruptions can increase costs and impede the company's ability to deliver products efficiently, impacting profit margins.

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Emergence and Proliferation of Digitally-Native and Influencer-Led Beauty Brands: The beauty industry is experiencing a continuous shift driven by agile, digitally-native, and influencer-led direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands. These brands leverage social media for rapid discovery, community building, and direct sales, bypassing traditional retail channels and often offering niche, specialized products. This fragmentation of the market captures younger demographics who are less loyal to traditional prestige brands and discover products through different avenues (e.g., TikTok, Instagram, YouTube). This trend directly impacts Estee Lauder's reliance on traditional distribution models and established brand-building strategies, similar to how Netflix disrupted Blockbuster's traditional brick-and-mortar distribution model. While Estee Lauder has acquired some DTC brands (e.g., The Ordinary, Deciem), the continuous emergence and agility of new players pose a sustained threat to long-term market share and traditional dominance.

Advanced AI and Biotech-Driven Hyper-Personalization: Significant technological advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), genomics, and biotechnology are enabling the emergence of truly bespoke beauty products. Companies are developing solutions that offer custom formulations based on individual genetic profiles, real-time skin analysis, microbiome data, and environmental factors. If these technologies mature and become scalable and affordable, they could fundamentally alter consumer expectations and demand for beauty products. This could challenge the traditional prestige beauty model of mass-produced, segmented product lines by offering consumers products precisely tailored to their unique biological and environmental needs, similar to how the iPhone offered a new paradigm of personalized technology that legacy phones could not match.

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The addressable markets for The Estée Lauder Companies' main products and services are substantial across several key beauty categories globally and in major regions. The company's primary product segments include skincare, makeup, fragrance, and hair care.

Addressable Market Sizes:

• Prestige Beauty Market: The global prestige beauty market was valued at USD 87.89 billion in 2021 and is projected to expand at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 5.56% between 2023 and 2028. In the U.S. alone, prestige beauty sales reached USD 33.9 billion in 2024. The overall global beauty industry is expected to be valued at USD 596 billion, with the luxury beauty sector specifically anticipated to grow at 10% through 2028.
• Skincare: The global skincare products market was valued at approximately USD 166.35 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach USD 233.73 billion by 2033, exhibiting a CAGR of 3.82% during 2025-2033. Other estimates place the global skincare market size at USD 115.65 billion in 2024, projected to grow to USD 194.05 billion by 2032. The U.S. skincare market is projected to reach an estimated value of USD 30.42 billion by 2032.
• Makeup: The global makeup market size was valued at USD 43.61 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 70.80 billion by 2032, with a CAGR of 6.37% during the forecast period. The makeup market in the U.S. is projected to reach USD 12.77 billion by 2032.
• Fragrance: The global fragrance market was valued at USD 58.97 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 83.69 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 4.5% between 2025 and 2032. Another source indicates a global market size of USD 56.60 billion in 2024, with a projection to reach USD 74.76 billion by 2030. North America holds the largest share of the global fragrance market, valued at USD 22.82 billion in 2024.
• Hair Care: The global hair care market size was estimated at USD 93.9 billion in 2024 and is expected to grow to USD 128.7 billion in 2034. Other data indicates the global hair care market was valued at USD 106.91 billion in 2024 and is anticipated to grow to USD 213.47 billion by 2032. The U.S. hair care market generated an estimated USD 22.2 billion in revenue during 2024.

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The Estee Lauder Companies (symbol: EL) is expected to drive future revenue growth over the next 2-3 years through a combination of strategic initiatives, market expansion, and product focus:

1. "Beauty Reimagined" Strategy and Profit Recovery and Growth Plan (PRGP): Estee Lauder's overarching "Beauty Reimagined" strategy, introduced in February 2025, aims to restore sustainable sales growth and achieve a solid double-digit adjusted operating margin. This strategy is supported by the Profit Recovery and Growth Plan (PRGP), which focuses on improving operating profitability and driving long-term organic sales growth. The PRGP includes operational efficiencies, lower promotional activity, and reductions in excess and obsolescence.
2. Expansion in High-Growth Channels and Geographies: The company is actively expanding its presence in high-growth channels, including e-commerce platforms like Amazon US, and specialty multi-retailers. Estee Lauder is also strategically focusing on emerging markets, particularly China, where it aims to increase its share in the prestige beauty market as penetration is expected to catch up with other developed Asian markets. In North America, the company has seen a return to growth, with several brands maintaining or growing market share in skincare, makeup, and hair.
3. Strategic Innovation and Product Category Growth: Product innovation is a key driver, with the company emphasizing "transformative innovation" as part of its "Beauty Reimagined" strategy. Specific brands and categories are also poised for growth. The Ordinary brand, for instance, has shown significant organic sales growth and is expanding into new product categories and emerging markets. La Mer and the Estée Lauder brand continue to drive progress in skincare, particularly in markets like mainland China. The fragrance category has also seen strong growth, bolstered by new innovations and consumer appeal of brands like Le Labo and Jo Malone.

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Share Repurchases

• Estee Lauder Companies completed share repurchases of approximately $2.309 billion in fiscal year 2022.
• Share repurchases significantly decreased in subsequent years, with approximately $271 million in fiscal year 2023 and $35 million in fiscal year 2024.
• The company's net common equity repurchased for fiscal year 2021 was $733 million, with a projected $35 million for fiscal year 2025.

Outbound Investments

• In November 2022, Estee Lauder acquired the designer fashion house Tom Ford in a deal valued at $2.8 billion.
• The company completed its $1.7 billion acquisition of Deciem Beauty Group Inc. (known for The Ordinary brand), with a cash transaction of approximately $860 million for the remaining shares on May 31, 2024. Estee Lauder had initially invested in Deciem in 2017 and became a majority owner in 2021.

Capital Expenditures

• Capital expenditures were approximately $637 million in fiscal year 2021, increasing to $1,040 million in fiscal year 2022 and $1,003 million in fiscal year 2023.
• For fiscal year 2024, capital expenditures were approximately $919 million.
• For fiscal year 2025, capital expenditures are expected to be approximately 5%-5.5% of projected sales, focusing on continued investments in customer-facing capital (stores and online), supply chain, and information technology.