e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) slips as investors position for earnings after a fresh price-target cut

e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. (ELF) is down 3.6% today. Here is some analysis on what might have caused this price movement.

Analysis: The drop appears tied to pre-earnings positioning ahead of the company’s scheduled fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 results webcast, amplified by a recent analyst price-target cut that highlighted uncertainty around near-term guidance. A same-day brand-marketing announcement likely was not enough to offset the market’s focus on the upcoming earnings print.

Details:

The company scheduled its fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 results webcast for May 20, 2026 at 4:30 p.m. ET, putting the stock in a high-sensitivity “event window” where investors often reduce risk ahead of results.

An analyst at Piper Sandler lowered a previously published price target (while keeping a neutral stance), citing concerns around the outlook heading into the report; that kind of reset can pressure sentiment into the release.

Earlier this fiscal year, the company raised its fiscal 2026 outlook alongside third-quarter fiscal 2026 results, which can raise the bar for execution and make the stock more reactive to any hint of slowing growth or margin pressure.

The company also announced a marketing partnership tied to the SURVIVOR 50 finale on May 20, 2026, but markets typically prioritize earnings and guidance over promotional news in the near term.

Sources:

e.l.f. Beauty Investor Relations, Investing.com, StockAnalysis.com

Disclaimer: This price movement analysis was generated with the help of AI. Please double-check the information provided for mistakes.

$ELF Insider Trading Activity

$ELF insiders have traded $ELF stock on the open market 11 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 1 have been purchases and 10 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $ELF stock by insiders over the last 6 months:

TARANG AMIN (Chief Executive Officer) has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 43,042 shares for an estimated $2,764,664.
SCOTT MILSTEN has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 24,703 shares for an estimated $1,587,243.
KORY MARCHISOTTO (See Remarks) sold 23,796 shares for an estimated $1,514,853
MANDY J FIELDS (See Remarks) sold 23,656 shares for an estimated $1,505,940
JOSHUA ALLEN FRANKS (SVP, Operations) sold 23,535 shares for an estimated $1,498,238
JENNIFER CATHERINE HARTNETT (Chief Commercial Officer) sold 20,829 shares for an estimated $1,325,974
MATTHEW FARRELL purchased 5,000 shares for an estimated $464,814
LAUREN COOKS LEVITAN has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 3,760 shares for an estimated $269,531.

To track insider transactions, check out Quiver Quantitative's insider trading dashboard. You can access data on insider stock transactions through the Quiver Quantitative API insider transaction endpoint.

$ELF Hedge Fund Activity

We have seen 243 institutional investors add shares of $ELF stock to their portfolio, and 324 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.

Here are some of the largest recent moves:

ILEX CAPITAL PARTNERS (UK) LLP removed 1,257,126 shares (-100.0%) from their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $76,194,406
AQR CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC added 1,166,279 shares (+354.0%) to their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $70,688,170
SWEDBANK AB removed 884,000 shares (-64.8%) from their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $53,579,240
POINT72 ASSET MANAGEMENT, L.P. removed 639,832 shares (-100.0%) from their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $38,780,217
BALYASNY ASSET MANAGEMENT L.P. removed 609,917 shares (-100.0%) from their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $36,967,069
FULLER & THALER ASSET MANAGEMENT, INC. removed 609,079 shares (-100.0%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $46,314,367
ARMISTICE CAPITAL, LLC removed 602,557 shares (-91.6%) from their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $36,520,979

To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard. You can access data on hedge funds moves and 13F filings through the Quiver Quantitative API 13F endpoint.

$ELF Analyst Ratings

Wall Street analysts have issued reports on $ELF in the last several months. We have seen 2 firms issue buy ratings on the stock, and 0 firms issue sell ratings.

Here are some recent analyst ratings:

TD Cowen issued a "Buy" rating on 01/21/2026
JP Morgan issued a "Overweight" rating on 12/18/2025

To track analyst ratings and price targets for $ELF, check out Quiver Quantitative's $ELF forecast page.

$ELF Price Targets

Multiple analysts have issued price targets for $ELF recently. We have seen 12 analysts offer price targets for $ELF in the last 6 months, with a median target of $86.0.

Here are some recent targets:

Anna Andreeva from Piper Sandler set a target price of $60.0 on 05/19/2026
Susan Anderson from Canaccord Genuity set a target price of $100.0 on 05/18/2026
Dara Mohsenian from Morgan Stanley set a target price of $67.0 on 05/01/2026
Joel Beatty from Baird set a target price of $90.0 on 04/28/2026
Andrea Teixeira from JP Morgan set a target price of $85.0 on 04/17/2026
Filippo Falorni from Citigroup set a target price of $87.0 on 04/15/2026
Anna Lizzul from B of A Securities set a target price of $93.0 on 04/10/2026

This article is not financial advice. See Quiver Quantitative's disclaimers for more information. Note that there may be inaccuracies due to mistakes in ticker-mapping, and other anomalies.