Ulta Beauty Inc vs Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF — how do they compare? Ulta Beauty Inc trades at $535 (market cap $23.27B), while Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF trades at $381.99. The key difference: Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF is trading nearer its 52-week high, Ulta Beauty Inc nearer its low. Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| ULTA | VTI | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $23.27B | — |
Sector | Consumer Cyclical | — |
52-Week High | $706.82 | $381.78 |
52-Week Low | $450.75 | $311.68 |
Enterprise Value | $25.35B | — |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
Ulta Beauty (ULTA) trades at $537.69, down 2.0% today, with a bullish technical outlook from moving averages and a consensus analyst price target of $618.29. Recent earnings show mixed quarterly beats, with Q1 2026 EPS of $7.74 exceeding expectations, while revenue growth remains steady at $11.3B for 2025. The company maintains strong profitability with a net margin of 9.36% and ROE of 47.45%, supported by an omnichannel strategy highlighted in recent news.
The stock presents a buy opportunity with Wall Street optimism (56.53% buy ratings) and solid fundamentals, but risks include margin compression from rising costs and competitive pressures. Near-term catalysts include the Q2 2026 earnings report, with expected EPS of $6.17, and the transition from the Target partnership, viewed as a growth opportunity by analysts.
VTI trades at $381.95, up 0.08% today, with a bullish technical signal driven by moving averages, though oscillators are neutral and RSI levels suggest overbought conditions. The ETF offers broad diversification with over 3,500 holdings and a low 0.03% expense ratio, as noted by The Motley Fool on August 11, 2026. Recent institutional activity includes mixed buying and selling, with a dividend scheduled for June 30, 2026.
Outlook remains positive for long-term investors due to low costs and market-wide exposure, but risks include market volatility and concentration in large-cap tech. Analyst sentiment is generally favorable, emphasizing VTI's role in foundational portfolios, though current high RSI levels indicate potential near-term pullbacks.
Trailing returns across standard periods
With more than 1,300 stores and a partnership with Target, Ulta Beauty is the largest specialized beauty retailer in the U.S. The firm offers makeup (43% of 2021 sales), fragrances, skin care, and hair care products (20% of 2021 sales), and bath and body items. Ulta offers private-label products and merchandise from more than 500 vendors. It also offers salon services, including hair, makeup, skin, and brow services, in all stores. Most Ulta stores are approximately 10,000 square feet and are in suburban strip centers. Ulta was founded in 1990 and is based in Bolingbrook, Illinois.
Read more on ULTA →The fund employs an indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the index, which represents approximately 100% of the investable US stock market and includes large-, mid-, small-, and micro-cap stocks. It invests by sampling the index, meaning that it holds a broadly diversified collection of securities that, in the aggregate, approximates the full index in terms of key characteristics.
Read more on VTI →