Estée Lauder just gave Wall Street the glow-up it's been waiting years for. Shares of the beauty conglomerate surged as much as 16% to 18% on Wednesday after the company posted fourth-quarter results that crushed Wall Street's expectations and finally proved its long-promised turnaround has teeth.

The maker of MAC, Clinique and its namesake brand reported adjusted earnings of 39 cents a share for the quarter ended June 30, blowing past the 32-cent consensus estimate, while net sales climbed 6% year-over-year to $3.63 billion, according to the company's earnings report. Crucially, the quarter marked the company's fourth consecutive period of organic growth, snapping a painful run of three straight annual sales declines that had battered the stock for years.

"We ended the year on a high note"

CEO Stéphane de La Faverie, who has spent the past two years pushing an aggressive restructuring plan, credited the results to accelerating momentum across the company's core beauty portfolio. Full-year gross margin expanded 1.5 percentage points and adjusted operating margin jumped 3.2 percentage points as cost-cutting initiatives took hold.

"WE ENDED THE YEAR ON A HIGH NOTE, AS ORGANIC SALES GROWTH ACCELERATED TO 5% FOR OUR FOURTH CONSECUTIVE QUARTER OF GROWTH AND STRONGER PROFITABILITY." — CEO STÉPHANE DE LA FAVERIE

The company's rebound is being driven by strength across nearly every major market, including China, Japan, Korea, Western Europe and the U.S. — regions that had dragged on results for years as post-pandemic travel retail and Asian demand collapsed. Executives also pointed to a bigger push into e-commerce and social platforms like TikTok as helping reconnect with younger shoppers who had drifted toward buzzier, cheaper skincare brands.

Looking ahead, Estée Lauder guided for fiscal 2027 organic net sales growth of 3% to 5%, with adjusted earnings per share projected between $3.10 and $3.35 — and raised its adjusted operating margin target to a range of 12.7% to 13.5%, up from a prior 12.5% to 13% forecast. That upgraded outlook, layered on top of the quarterly beat, is what sent traders piling back into a stock that had been left for dead by much of the investment community after years of disappointing guidance and executive turnover.

Wednesday's pop marks one of the stock's best single-day performances in years and offers vindication for a management team that has faced persistent skepticism since launching its restructuring program. Whether the momentum holds through a full fiscal year will be the real test for a company still working to prove its comeback is more than a sugar high.