Item 9A. Controls and Procedures
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures
Evaluation of disclosure controls and procedures over financial reporting
We have established disclosure controls and procedures to ensure that material information relating to the Company is made known to the officers who certify our financial reports and to the members of our senior management and Board of Directors.
Our management, with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended). Based on management’s evaluation as of January 31, 2026, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures are effective to ensure that the information required to be disclosed by us in our reports that we file or submit under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
Management’s annual report on internal control over financial reporting
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting for the Company. Internal control over financial reporting is a process designed by, or under the supervision of, the principal executive officer and principal financial officer and effected by the Board of Directors, management, and other personnel, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of our financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. During fiscal 2025, we acquired Space NK and have included their balances as of January 31, 2026 in our consolidated balance sheets and the results of their operations in our consolidated statements of income and comprehensive income. As permitted by the SEC, we elected to exclude this acquisition, which constituted approximately 4% of total assets as of January 31, 2026, from our assessment of internal control over financial reporting as of January 31, 2026. The inclusion of Space NK could cause changes to our internal controls over financial reporting in future periods.
Under the supervision and with the participation of our principal executive officer and our principal financial officer, our management evaluated the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of January 31, 2026, based on the criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013 framework) (the COSO). Based on this evaluation, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of January 31, 2026. Ernst & Young LLP, the independent registered public accounting firm that audited our financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, has audited the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of January 31, 2026 and has issued the attestation report included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Changes in internal control over financial reporting
There were no changes to our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the 13 weeks ended January 31, 2026 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
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Item 9B. Other Information
Rule 10b5-1 Plans
During the 13 weeks ended January 31, 2026, no director or Section 16 officer of the Company adopted or terminated a “Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement” or “non-Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement,” as each term is defined in Item 408 of Regulation S-K .
Principal Accounting Officer
On March 26, 2026, the Board appointed Christopher Lialios, the Company’s Senior Vice President and Controller, to serve as the Company’s principal accounting officer. Mr. Lialios will continue to serve as the Company’s Senior Vice President and Controller in addition to his duties as the Company’s principal accounting officer. Christopher J. DelOrefice, the Company’s Chief Financial Officer, will continue to serve as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer as well as the Company’s principal financial officer.
Mr. Lialios, 61, has served as Senior Vice President and Controller of the Company since 2018, with responsibility for the Company’s financial reporting, internal controls, and accounting policy, except from June 2025 to December 2025, when Mr. Lialios served as the Company’s interim chief financial officer, principal financial officer, and principal accounting officer. Mr. Lialios joined Ulta Beauty in 1999 as assistant controller, where he led finance transformation efforts across the Company, and has held positions of increasing responsibility within the Company’s accounting and finance organization since that time. He is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Illinois Chicago and an M.B.A. from Webster University.
Effective March 26, 2026, Mr. Lialios’ annualized base salary will be $484,000 and his annual cash incentive target will be 50% of his base salary.
There are no arrangements or understandings between Mr. Lialios and any other person pursuant to which he was appointed. Mr. Lialios does not have any family relationship with any director or other executive officer of the Company or any person nominated or chosen by the Company to become a director or executive officer, and there are no transactions in which Mr. Lialios has an interest requiring disclosure under Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K.
Chief Executive Officer Option Award
On March 26, 2026, the Compensation Committee (the “Committee”) of the Board of Directors approved an award of performance-contingent stock options for Kecia L. Steelman, the Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer, consisting of an option to purchase 68,000 shares of our common stock (the “Option Award”), effective on March 31, 2026 (the “Grant Date”), which is subject to both achievement of stock price hurdles and a five (5)-year service vesting condition. The performance vesting must occur prior to March 30, 2031, and vesting is subject to Ms. Steelman’s continued employment with the Company through such date, except as described below. The exercise price for such Option Award will be set at the closing price of the Company’s common stock on the NASDAQ Global Select Market (the “Closing Stock Price”) on the Grant Date and the term of the Option Award is ten years from the Grant Date.
The Option Award will performance-vest in two tranches, each of which comprise half of the Option Award. Performance will be measured based on the compound annual growth rate (“CAGR”) of the Company’s Closing Stock Price from a base price calculated using the average Closing Stock Price over the 30 calendar days preceding the Grant Date. The first tranche and second tranche will performance-vest when the average Closing Stock Price (over any consecutive twenty (20)-trading day or thirty (30)-calendar day period) represents a CAGR of 8% and 18%, respectively, from the base price. Any earned portion of the Option Award will service-vest five years from the Grant Date and any unearned portion as of March 30, 2031 will be forfeited.
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In the event of a change in control of the Company, any tranche of the Option Award that performance-vested prior to, or as of the occurrence of, such change in control will remain eligible to vest, subject to Ms. Steelman’s continued service through the end of the performance period. If no tranches of the Option Award have yet performance-vested as of the change in control, the first tranche will automatically performance-vest (subject to continued service-vesting conditions) and, if the change in control per share consideration is between the two stock price targets, a pro-rata portion of the second tranche of the Option Award will also performance-vest on an interpolated basis. If Ms. Steelman is terminated without “Cause” or for “Good Reason” (each as defined in the Company’s Executive Change in Control and Severance Plan, dated March 24, 2017) within twelve months following the change in control, the performance-vested portion of the Option Award will service-vest. In any case, no more than the two tranches of the Option Award will vest.
If Ms. Steelman is terminated without Cause thirty-six months or more after the Grant Date and prior to a change in control, any tranche of the Option Award that performance-vested prior to the date of such termination will vest and any unvested tranche will remain outstanding and eligible to vest upon attainment of the performance goal to the extent achieved during the five-year performance period. The Option Award is also eligible for pro-rated vesting upon a termination of employment due to death or disability, based on both performance and the duration of service during the performance period. Any vesting of the Option Award in connection with a termination of employment without Cause of for Good Reason during the performance period is subject to Ms. Steelman’s delivery and non-revocation of an effective general release of claims in favor of the Company and continued compliance with applicable restrictive covenants during Ms. Steelman’s employment and for a period of 12 months following such termination of employment.
The foregoing description of Ms. Steelman’s special incentive award does not purport to be a complete description and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of an option agreement to be entered into between Ms. Steelman and the Company, a copy of which will be filed with the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ending May 2, 2026.
Item 9C. Disc losure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections
Not applicable.
Part III
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers, and Corporate Governance
The information required by this item with respect to our executive officers is set forth in Part I of this Annual Report on Form 10-K under the caption “Information About our Executive Officers.” The information required by this item with respect to the members of our Board of Directors will be set forth in the definitive Proxy Statement for our 2026 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the Proxy Statement) to be filed with the SEC in advance of such meeting and is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
We have a code of business conduct that applies to all of our employees, including our Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Controller, and other persons performing similar functions. We have posted a copy of our code of business conduct under “Governance” in the Investor Relations section of our website located at http://ulta.com/investor, and such code of business conduct is available in print, without charge, to any stockholder who requests it from our Corporate Secretary. We intend to satisfy the disclosure requirements under Item 5.05 of Form 8-K regarding amendments to, or waivers from, the code of business conduct by posting such information under “Governance” in the Investor Relations section of our website located at http://ulta.com/investor. We are not including the information contained on our website as part of, or incorporating it by reference into, this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Item 11. Executive Compensation
The information required by this item will be set forth in the Proxy Statement to be filed with the SEC and is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
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Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters
The information required by this item with respect to security ownership of certain beneficial owners and management will be included in the Proxy Statement to be filed with the SEC and is hereby incorporated by reference. The information required by this item with respect to compensation plans under which our equity securities are authorized for issuance as of January 31, 2026 is set forth in Item 5 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K under the caption “Securities authorized for issuance under equity compensation plans.”
Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence
The information required by this item will be included in the Proxy Statement to be filed with the SEC and is hereby incorporated by reference.
Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services
The information required by this item will be included under the caption “Corporate Governance – Proposal Two – Ratification of Appointment of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm – Fees to Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm” in the Proxy Statement and is hereby incorporated by reference.
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Part IV
Item 15. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules
(a)
Financial Statements and Schedules
The following documents are filed as a part of this Form 10-K:
Reports of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm (PCAOB ID: 42 )
49
Consolidated Balance Sheets
53
Consolidated Statements of Income
54
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income
55
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
56
Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity
57
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
58
Schedule II – Valuation and Qualifying Accounts
83
All other financial statement schedules required by Form 10-K have been omitted because they were inapplicable or otherwise not required under the instructions contained in Regulation S-X.
(b) Exhibits
The exhibits listed in the Exhibit Index below are filed as part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
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EXHIBIT INDEX
Incorporated by Reference
Exhibit
Filed
Exhibit
File
Number
Description of document
Herewith
Form
Number
Number
Filing Date
3.1
Certificate of Incorporation of Ulta Beauty, Inc., as amended through June 1, 2023
8-K
3.1
001-33764
6/07/2023
3.2
Bylaws of Ulta Beauty, Inc., as amended through June 1, 2023
8-K
3.3
001-33764
6/07/2023
4
Description of Ulta Beauty, Inc.’s Securities
10-K
4
001-33764
3/26/2024
10.1
Compensation Plan Agreement, dated as of January 27, 2017 between Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance, Inc. and Ulta Beauty, Inc.*
8-K
10.1
001-33764
1/30/2017
10.2
Amendment No. 4 to Second Amended and Restated Loan Agreement, dated August 27, 2025, among Ulta Beauty, Inc., Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance, Inc., the subsidiaries of Ulta Beauty signatory thereto, the lenders party thereto, and Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as administrative agent and collateral agent for the lenders (including a full conformed copy of the Second Amended and Restated Loan Agreement, as amended through Amendment No.4)
10-Q
10.2
001-33764
8/28/2025
10.3
Amended and Restated Ulta Beauty, Inc. 2011 Incentive Award Plan*
DEF 14A
Appendix A
001-33764
4/20/2016
10.4
Form of Restricted Stock Unit Award Agreement—Performance Shares under the 2011 Incentive Award Plan*
8-K
10.1
001-33764
3/31/2015
10.5
Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance, Inc. Non-qualified Deferred Compensation Plan*
10-K
10.17
001-33764
4/2/2009
10.6
Form of Option Agreement under the 2011 Incentive Award Plan*
10-K
10.13
001-33764
3/28/2017
10.7
Form of Restricted Stock Unit Award Agreement under the 2011 Incentive Award Plan*
10-K
10.14
001-33764
3/28/2017
10.8
Letter Agreement dated August 3, 2015 between Ulta Inc. and Jodi J. Caro*
10-K
10.15
001-33764
3/28/2017
10.9
Ulta Beauty, Inc. Executive Change in Control and Severance Plan*
10-K
10.16
001-33764
3/28/2017
10.10
New Form of Restricted Stock Unit Award Agreement—PSUs—under the Amended and Restated Ulta Beauty, Inc. 2011 Incentive Award Plan*
8-K
10.1
001-33764
3/30/2021
10.11
New Form of Stock Option Agreement under the Amended and Restated Ulta Beauty, Inc. 2011 Incentive Award Plan*
8-K
10.2
001-33764
3/30/2021
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Incorporated by Reference
Exhibit
Filed
Exhibit
File
Number
Description of document
Herewith
Form
Number
Number
Filing Date
10.12
Alternative Form of Restricted Stock Unit Award Agreement—PSUs—under the Amended and Restated Ulta Beauty, Inc. 2011 Incentive Award Plan*
10-K
10.25
001-33764
3/25/2022
10.13
Alternative Form of Stock Option Agreement under the Amended and Restated Ulta Beauty, Inc. 2011 Incentive Award Plan*
10-K
10.26
001-33764
3/25/2022
10.14
Alternative Form of Restricted Stock Unit Award Agreement under the Amended and Restated Ulta Beauty, Inc. 2011 Incentive Award Plan*
10-K
10.27
001-33764
3/25/2022
10.15
2023 Form of Restricted Stock Unit Award Agreement—PSUs—under the Amended and Restated Ulta Beauty, Inc. 2011 Incentive Award Plan*
10-K
10.20
001-33764
3/24/2023
10.16
2023 Form of Stock Option Agreement under the Amended and Restated Ulta Beauty, Inc. 2011 Incentive Award Plan*
10-K
10.21
001-33764
3/24/2023
10.17
2023 Form of Restricted Stock Unit Award Agreement under the Amended and Restated Ulta Beauty, Inc. 2011 Incentive Award Plan*
10-K
10.22
001-33764
3/24/2023
10.18
2025 Form of Stock Option Agreement under the Amended and Restated 2011 Incentive Award Plan*
10-Q
10.1
001-33764
5/29/2025
10.19
Separation and Release Agreement between Ulta Inc. and Paula Oyibo*
10-Q
10.1
001-33764
8/28/2025
10.20
Letter Agreement dated October 8, 2025 between Ulta Inc. and Christopher DelOrefice*
10-Q
10.1
001-33764
12/4/2025
10.21
Ulta Beauty, Inc. Executive Severance Plan*
8-K
10.1
001-33764
12/18/2025
10.22
Letter Agreement dated February 26, 2025 between Ulta Inc. and Rene Cásares*
X
19
Ulta Beauty, Inc. Insider Trading Policy
10-K
19
001-33764
3/27/2025
21
List of Significant Subsidiaries
X
23
Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
X
31.1
Certification of the Chief Executive Officer pursuant to Rules 13a-14(a) and 15d-14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as adopted pursuant to section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
X
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Incorporated by Reference
Exhibit
Filed
Exhibit
File
Number
Description of document
Herewith
Form
Number
Number
Filing Date
31.2
Certification of the Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Rules 13a-14(a) and 15d-14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as adopted pursuant to section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
X
32.1
Certification of the Chief Executive Officer pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
X
32.2
Certification of the Chief Financial Officer pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
X
97
Ulta Beauty, Inc. Senior Leadership Clawback Policy
10-K
97
001-33764
3/26/2024
99
Proxy Statement for the 2026 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. To be filed with the SEC under Regulation 14A within 120 days after January 31, 2026 except to the extent specifically incorporated by reference, the Proxy Statement for the 2026 Annual Meeting of Stockholders shall not be deemed to be filed with the SEC as part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K
101.INS
Inline XBRL Instance
X
101.SCH
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema
X
101.CAL
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation
X
101.LAB
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Labels
X
101.PRE
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation
X
101.DEF
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition
X
104
Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as Inline XBRL with applicable taxonomy extension information contained in Exhibits 101).
* A management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement.
Item 16. Form 10-K Summary
None.
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Bolingbrook, State of Illinois, on March 26, 2026.
ULTA BEAUTY, INC.
By:
/s/ Christopher Lialios
Christopher Lialios
Senior Vice President Controller (Principal Accounting Officer)
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated:
Signatures
Title
Date
/s/ Kecia L. Steelman
President and Chief Executive Officer
March 26, 2026
Kecia L. Steelman
and Director (Principal Executive Officer)
/s/ Christopher J. DelOrefice
Chief Financial Officer
March 26, 2026
Christopher J. DelOrefice
(Principal Financial Officer)
/s/ Christopher Lialios
Senior Vice President Controller
March 26, 2026
Christopher Lialios
(Principal Accounting Officer)
/s/ Martin Brok
Director
March 26, 2026
Martin Brok
/s/ Michelle L. Collins
Director
March 26, 2026
Michelle L. Collins
/s/ Kelly E. Garcia
Director
March 26, 2026
Kelly E. Garcia
/s/ Catherine Halligan
Director
March 26, 2026
Catherine Halligan
/s/ Stephenie Landry
Director
March 26, 2026
Stephenie Landry
/s/ Patricia A. Little
Director
March 26, 2026
Patricia A. Little
/s/ George Mrkonic
Director
March 26, 2026
George Mrkonic
/s/ Lorna E. Nagler
Non-Executive Chair of the Board of
March 26, 2026
Lorna E. Nagler
Directors
/s/ Heidi G. Petz
Director
March 26, 2026
Heidi G. Petz
/s/ Gisel Ruiz
Director
March 26, 2026
Gisel Ruiz
/s/ Michael C. Smith
Director
March 26, 2026
Michael C. Smith
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