The Estée Lauder Cos.’ third-quarter earnings came without a Puig deal — the two sides said they were considering joining forces in March — but there were still plenty of signs that the beauty giant is on the move and changing things up. 

Third-quarter organic sales grew by 2 percent, with a 10 percent gain in fragrance; adjusted earnings topped estimates, and the company offered an early forecast on fiscal 2027, projecting continued growth. 

Lauder is also expanding on its profit recovery and growth plan and now expects to log a total of 9,000 to 10,000 layoffs, up from the 5,800 to 7,000 previously forecast. 

Seventy percent of the additional cuts come from demonstration roles at unproductive department stores and freestanding channels, indicating just how much more digital beauty has become and how much Lauder is looking to avenues like Amazon and TikTok for growth.  

Investors liked what they saw and traded shares of the company up 14.7 percent to $88 in premarket trading.

“Our third quarter results extend strong year-to-date performance, driven by Beauty Reimagined,” said Stéphane de La Faverie, president and chief executive officer, in a statement, referring to the company’s strategic plan. “In the first nine months of fiscal 2026, organic sales for fragrance rose double digits, while three of four regions grew, led by high single-digit growth in Mainland China where we outperformed prestige beauty to gain share. 

“With momentum across all five action plan priorities of Beauty Reimagined, today we raised our fiscal 2026 outlook, now expecting organic sales growth at the high-end of the prior range and adjusted operating margin expansion to approach 300 basis points, bolstered in part by adjusted gross margin expansion,” the CEO said.

“Fiscal 2026 is promising to be the pivotal year we intended, one in which we restore organic sales growth and expand our adjusted operating margin for the first time in four years,” he said.

For the quarter ended March 31, net sales increased 5 percent to $3.7 billion. Adjusted operating margins expanded to 15 percent from 11.4 percent a year earlier, driven by gross margin expansion and the company’s efforts to streamline. 

Net earnings fell 44 percent to $89 million, but adjusted profits were headed in the other direction and and diluted earnings per share increased to 91 cents from 65 cents. Analysts had expected adjusted earnings to be flat for the quarter. 

The conflict in the Middle East shaved 2 cents off the company’s adjusted earnings. 

Lauder also offered an unexpected peek at its plans for 2027, showing confidence that it’s moving in the right direction. 

Organic sales next year are slated to rise 3 percent to 5 percent with adjusted operating margin of 12.5 percent to 13.0 percent, excluding any potential tariff refunds.