Ulta Beauty Surges to 309th in Trading Volume with $583 Million Day as Expansion Pauses

On April 9, 2025, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) saw a significant surge in trading volume, reaching $583 million, marking a 39.94% increase from the previous day. This surge placed Ulta Beauty at the 309th position in terms of trading volume for the day. The stock price of Ulta Beauty also rose by 10.73%.

Ulta Beauty has decided to temporarily halt its expansion efforts within Target stores. The new CEO, Kecia Steelman, announced this decision during the J.P. Morgan’s annual Retail Round Up Conference. The company will focus on optimizing the approximately 610 existing shop-in-shop locations within Target stores, aiming to enhance efficiencies and leverage the learnings from the past three years to create value for both Ulta and Target.

This pause comes after Ulta and Target opened 101 new Ulta Beauty at Target locations in 2024. Previously, Steelman had indicated that Ulta was on track to meet its commitment of 800 stores with Target. However, the decision to pause the expansion was not immediately explained by Ulta, and the company did not provide details on whether the expansion would resume in 2026 or how they plan to improve the current locations.

Ulta Beauty has been facing challenges, including a loss of market share in the beauty sector for the first time last year and a roughly 2% decline in sales in the fourth quarter. The company has also undergone significant leadership changes, with Dave Kimbell retiring as CEO in January and Steelman taking over. Since then, Steelman has made several changes to the executive team, including appointing a new chief marketer and adding new roles such as chief retail officer and chief technology and transformation officer.

Ulta's partnership with Target was initially seen as a strategic move to attract new customers. However, the competitive landscape has intensified, with Sephora's deal with Kohl’s increasing competition between the two beauty retailers. Ulta has acknowledged the negative impact of competitive expansion, with 90% of its stores facing pressure from new beauty locations in the past two years.