Olaplex saw overall sales drop again in its second quarter, although specialty retail was a bright spot.
The hair care brand’s net sales decreased 4.8 percent to $103.9 million in the three months ended June 30 compared with the same period a year earlier. This was, however, a touch above Wall Street forecasts of $103.7 million.
Within that, specialty retail sales increased 22.4 percent to $36.4 million; professional decreased 18.4 percent to $33.4 million, and direct-to-consumer fell 11.5 percent to $34.1 million. Net sales increased 7.3 percent in the U.S., primarily due to lapping customer inventory rebalancing a year ago, and decreased 15.1 percent internationally.
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Adjusted diluted earnings per share were 3 cents, the same as a year ago.
“We are on a journey to build a world-class brand and a business that is well-positioned for long-term success,” Amanda Baldwin, Olaplex’s chief executive officer, said. “While we know that this journey will take some time and that the path to creating a global and enduring brand is not always linear, we remain on track with the expectations we set, delivering on our goals for the first half of the year and now shifting our focus in the back half of 2024 to executing on our product launches and key holiday period along with continued planning for 2025 and beyond.”
As part of her transformation efforts, the brand recently launched Bond Shaping Technology — a new innovation that focuses on curly, wavy and coily hair textures.
It’s the first major launch for Baldwin, who joined at the end of 2023. It’s part of her larger efforts to double down on new technologies, as well as the professional channel, where the brand started.
“Our history, and our future, are all about being pro-first. That’s the philosophy. The pros are our most powerful muse,” Baldwin said in an interview last month. “The brand’s destiny starts at its origins.”
She is also making changes to her C-suite. That includes Catherine Dunleavy joining Olaplex as chief operating officer and chief financial officer, effective Aug. 13, and Katie Gohman will join as chief marketing officer.
Most recently, Dunleavy was president, and prior to that, CFO at Away, following tenures at Nike, Comcast, NBCUniversal and GE. Gohman, meanwhile, began her career at L’Oréal and went on to hold marketing leadership positions at L’Oréal, Ralph Lauren, Coach and most recently served as CMO at Marc Jacobs.