Ulta Beauty's 1.88% Rally on $320M Volume Surge Ranks 356th in Market Activity

Ulta Beauty (ULTA) closed 1.88% higher on October 6, 2025, with a trading volume of $0.32 billion—a 52.59% increase from the previous day—ranking it 356th in market activity. The stock’s performance aligns with a broader retail sector rebound, driven by renewed consumer confidence in beauty and personal care spending amid easing inflationary pressures.

Analysts noted that Ulta’s recent earnings report highlighted resilient same-store sales growth, particularly in its high-margin product categories. The company’s strategic expansion of in-store services, including skincare consultations and nail treatments, has bolstered customer retention and average transaction values. Additionally, a shift toward digital engagement through its loyalty program has reinforced recurring revenue streams, insulating the business from short-term market volatility.

To ensure the back-test matches what you have in mind, could you please confirm a few details? 1. Universe • Should we use all U.S. listed common stocks (NYSE + NASDAQ) as the universe from which we pick the top-500 by volume each day? • Or do you want a different universe (for example, only S&P 500 constituents, only ADRs, a specific exchange, etc.)? 2. Volume definition • Rank by share volume (number of shares traded) or by dollar volume (shares × close price)? 3. Portfolio construction • Equal-weight the 500 names each day (i.e., 0.2 % per stock), then sell them all at the next day’s close? • Or use another weighting scheme? 4. Frictions • Ignore transaction costs and slippage, or apply an estimate (e.g., 5 bp each side)? 5. Cash management • Hold proceeds in cash overnight (earning zero), or assume fully invested only in equities? Once I have this information I can generate the daily trade list, run the 1-day holding back-test from 2022-01-01 to today, and report the cumulative return, annualized return, volatility, Sharpe, max drawdown, etc.