Ulta Beauty Inc vs Western Digital Corp — how do they compare? Ulta Beauty Inc trades at $489.47 (market cap $20.98B), while Western Digital Corp trades at $558.58 (market cap $168.00B). The key difference: Western Digital Corp is far larger — about 8× Ulta Beauty Inc's market cap, and Western Digital Corp pays a 0.12% dividend while Ulta Beauty Inc pays none. Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| ULTA | WDC | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $20.98B | $168.00B |
Sector | Consumer Cyclical | Technology |
52-Week High | $706.82 | $746.23 |
52-Week Low | $450.75 | $67.06 |
Enterprise Value | $23.06B | $166.35B |
Dividend Yield | — | 0.12% |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
ULTA Beauty trades at $489.47, up 2.06% with a bullish technical signal despite mixed moving averages. The company maintains strong profitability with 39.33% gross margins and 47.45% ROE, though net margins have declined from 12.17% in 2023 to 10.63% in 2025. Recent Q1 2026 earnings beat expectations at $7.74 EPS versus $6.89 expected, while Q4 2025 missed. Analyst consensus remains strongly positive with 26 buy ratings and a $618.29 price target, representing 26% upside potential.
ULTA presents a compelling growth story with international expansion and digital engagement driving long-term potential. However, investors face risks from margin compression, competitive pressures in beauty retail, and volatile cash flow patterns. The stock's current valuation at 18.29x P/E appears reasonable given growth prospects, but requires monitoring of consumer spending trends and execution on strategic initiatives.
Western Digital (WDC) trades at $548.07, up 14.85% over 24 hours, reflecting strong momentum in memory stocks. The stock exhibits a bearish technical signal but has beaten earnings estimates for three consecutive quarters. Key financials show robust profitability with a net income margin of 55.07% and ROE of 37.73%. Recent news highlights WDC's position in the AI-driven memory and storage rebound, with institutional buying activity noted.
Outlook remains positive given analyst consensus and AI-driven demand, though valuation multiples are elevated. Risks include market volatility and competitive pressures. The consensus price target of $619.07 suggests potential upside, supported by strong institutional sentiment and fundamental improvements.
Trailing returns across standard periods
Latest headlines on both assets
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 →Western Digital is a vertically integrated supplier of data storage solutions, spanning both hard disk drives and solid-state drives. In the HDD market it forms a practical duopoly with Seagate, and it is the largest global producer of NAND flash chips for SSDs in a joint venture with competitor Kioxia.
Read more on WDC →