Elf Off The Shelf

Rhode On A Roll

Photo: Elf Beauty

Elf Beauty just strutted into fiscal 2026 with numbers that made Wall Street do a double take. First-quarter revenue hit $353.7 million, a 9 percent climb from last year, and conveniently timed with the ink drying on its $1 billion splurge for Hailey Bieber’s Rhode. The market loved the drama as shares popped on the announcement.

CEO Tarang Amin, clearly enjoying his victory lap, praised the team’s “industry-leading results” and then hinted at world domination. Translation: Elf plans to double the business by squeezing more out of makeup, skincare, and international markets. Rhode, Amin insists, is the new crown jewel. Elf’s CFO Mandy Fields gushed about Rhode’s Lemontini Lip Peptide launch like it was the second coming of lip gloss, declaring it a sign the brand has legs. But don’t expect Rhode to suddenly flood Sephora shelves with endless shades and serums. Its brand identity is minimalism chic, and Amin swears they’ll keep it that way. Apparently, less really is more when consumers can’t stop throwing money at the “sold out” sign.

The real sales fireworks were overseas since US sales barely budged (up only 1%) but international revenue jumped 30 percent. Elf now makes $266 million abroad, with the UK leading the charge and outpacing category growth by threefold. Next stop: Sephora stores in the Gulf, where Elf plans to whip up demand on TikTok before shoppers can even get their wallets ready.

Rhode, meanwhile, is going global. It launches in every Sephora across the US and Canada this September, then crosses the Atlantic to the UK by year’s end. With most of Hailey’s fan base living outside the US, Elf is practically drooling over the international runway ahead.

After all of that, it wasn’t all contour and highlighter. Profits fell 30 percent, thanks to brutal tariffs on Chinese imports. Considering Elf manufactures about 75 percent of its goods there, the brand took a hammering with levies peaking at 170% in the spring. In damage control mode, the company raised prices by ‘one dollar’, only the third time in its history. They swear beauty is still “accessible,” pointing out that three-quarters of the lineup remains under $10. Your latte still costs more. (See here> on Starbucks) https://www.vabenestyle.com/post/sadness-at-starbucks           

Unsurprisingly, Elf isn’t making any big promises about the rest of the year until Washington and Beijing decide what’s what. Fields warned tariffs could add $50 million to costs if they stick around. Even so, management expects sales growth to outpace this quarter, especially once Rhode’s numbers are added to the mix. Amin closed the call by rolling out his favorite talking point: Elf has “white space” everywhere, and Rhode is the rocket fuel.