Ulta’s fourth quarter sales ended January 30 exceeded expectations.

“Our fourth quarter results capped an exceptional year during which we made significant progress against our strategic imperatives, while achieving outstanding sales and earnings growth. We continue to benefit from the powerful combination of strong demand in the beauty category and Ulta Beauty’s highly differentiated offering that propels our business to transcend prevailing trends across the retail landscape,” said Mary Dillon, Chief Executive Officer. “Today we are pleased to announce an accelerated share repurchase plan that demonstrates our commitment to creating and returning value to shareholders.”

The beauty retailer, which operates 874 stores, posted a 21.1 percent jump in netsales to $1.26 billion. Comparable sales grew 12.5 percent compared to an increase of 11.1 percent in Q4 2014 driven by 8.6 percent growth in transactions and 3.9 percent growth in average ticket. Retail comparable sales grew 10.4 percent, including salon comparable sales growth of 9.2 percent. Salon sales increased 16.7 percent to $54.6 million from $46.8 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014. E-commerce sales grew 44.2 percent to $94.8 million from $65.7 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014, representing 210 basis points of the total company comparable sales increase of 12.5 percent.

Urban Decay, It Cosmetics, Nyx, Redken, Too Faced, Tarte, Clinique, Lancôme, Benefit and the Ulta Beauty Collection were among the best performing brands for the quarter. Ulta Beauty launched several new brands in the skincare area, including Julep and First Aid Beauty. The pipeline of new brands for 2016 includes exclusive brands like Jessica Alba’s Honest Beauty, and Fiona Stiles Cosmetics, as well as the introduction of Buxom color cosmetics and the expansion of Clarins skincare and cosmetics. The company continues to focus on products that are only available at Ulta Beauty with the addition of many exclusive products within existing brands, including a new line of color cosmetics from Tarte called Double Duty Beauty.

Operating income increased 23.3 percent to $169.5 million, or 13.4 percent of net sales. Net income increased 23.6 percent to $107.8 million.

For the fiscal year net sales increased 21.1 percent to $3.9 billion. Comparable sales (sales for stores open at least 14 months and e-commerce sales) increased 11.8 percent compared to an increase of 9.9 percent in fiscal 2014. Retail comparable sales increased 10 percent, including salon comparable sales growth of 10.1 percent. Salon sales increased 19.2 percent to $209.2 million. E-commerce sales grew 47.5 percent to $221.1 million. Operating income increased 23.4 percent to $506.3 million, or 12.9 percent of net sales. Net income increased 24.5 percent to $320 million. During the fourth quarter, Ulta Beauty’s board of directors approved a new share repurchase authorization of $425 million, effective March 15, 2016, which replaces the prior authorization implemented in September 2014. Ulta Beauty will enter into an accelerated share repurchase agreement with Goldman, Sachs & Co. to repurchase $200 million of its common stock.

During the fourth quarter, the company opened 14 stores. For fiscal 2016, Ulta Beauty plans to achieve comparable sales growth of approximately 8 percent to 10 percent, including the impact of the e-commerce business. It also aims to increase total sales in the mid to high teens percentage range; grow e-commerce sales in the 40% range; expand square footage by approximately 11% with the opening of 100 net new stores; remodel 12 locations; deliver earnings per share growth in the range of 18% to 20%, including the impact of the new Dallas distribution center, the accelerated rollout of prestige brand boutiques, the accelerated share repurchase program, and continued open market share repurchases; and incur capital expenditures in the $390 million range in fiscal 2016, compared to $299 million in fiscal 2015. The planned increase in capital expenditures includes approximately $80 million to fund an accelerated rollout of prestige brand boutiques and enhancements to the Ulta Beauty Collection and fragrance fixtures in hundreds of stores.

For the first quarter of fiscal 2016, the retailer currently expects net sales in the range of $1.016 billion to $1.033 billion; comparable sales growth of 9 percent to 11 percent.