Coty vs Estée Lauder: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Coty reported $5.8B of revenue in FY2026 and a net loss of $604.8M. Estée Lauder reported $15B of revenue in FY2026 and $182M of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
Coty
- Latest revenue
- $5.8B (FY2026)
- Net income
- -$604.8M
- Net margin
- -10.4%
- Revenue growth
- -3.0% a year, FY2017–FY2026
Estée Lauder
- Latest revenue
- $15B (FY2026)
- Net income
- $182M
- Net margin
- 1.2%
- Revenue growth
- +2.7% a year, FY2017–FY2026
Financial summary
Coty
Coty's revenue peaked above $9 billion after the 2016 purchase of Procter & Gamble's specialty beauty brands, then shrank as it sold control of Wella and other assets to cut debt. Reported revenue (restated for continuing operations) recovered from $4.63 billion in FY2021 to $6.12 billion in FY2024, then slipped to $5.89 billion in FY2025 and $5.81 billion in FY2026. FY2026 brought a reported net loss of about $605 million, driven partly by a $115.8 million mark-to-market loss on an equity swap, while operating cash flow rose to $537.8 million and free cash flow to $348.2 million. Coty sold its remaining Wella stake for $750 million in December 2025 and will receive $400 million for the early Gucci exit, both earmarked for debt reduction and reinvestment.
Estée Lauder
Estée Lauder's sales peaked at $17.737 billion in fiscal 2022, then fell for three years as China and Asia travel retail weakened, reaching $14.326 billion in fiscal 2025 with a $1.133 billion net loss driven by $1.286 billion of goodwill and intangible impairments and talc litigation charges. Fiscal 2026 marked the turn: net sales rose 5% to $15.049 billion, gross margin expanded 150 basis points to 75.5%, reported operating income was $780 million (5.2% margin) and adjusted operating margin reached 11.2%, up from 8.0%. Fourth-quarter net sales rose 6% to $3.627 billion, the fourth consecutive quarter of organic growth.
Revenue and profit by year
Coty
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | $5.8B | -$604.8M | -10.4% | -1.5% | Source |
| FY2025 | $5.9B | -$367.9M | -6.2% | -3.7% | Source |
| FY2024 | $6.1B | $89.4M | 1.5% | +10.2% | Source |
| FY2023 | $5.6B | $508.2M | 9.1% | +4.7% | Source |
| FY2022 | $5.3B | $259.5M | 4.9% | +14.6% | Source |
| FY2021 | $4.6B | -$201.3M | -4.3% | -1.9% | Source |
| FY2020 | $4.7B | -$1B | -21.3% | -25.0% | Source |
| FY2019 | $6.3B | -$3.8B | -60.2% | -8.1% | Source |
| FY2018 | $6.8B | -$168.8M | -2.5% | -10.6% | Source |
| FY2017 | $7.7B | -$422.2M | -5.5% | — | Source |
Estée Lauder
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | $15B | $182M | 1.2% | +5.0% | Source |
| FY2025 | $14.3B | -$1.1B | -7.9% | -8.2% | Source |
| FY2024 | $15.6B | $390M | 2.5% | -1.9% | Source |
| FY2023 | $15.9B | $1B | 6.3% | -10.3% | Source |
| FY2022 | $17.7B | $2.4B | 13.5% | +9.4% | Source |
| FY2021 | $16.2B | $2.9B | 17.7% | +13.4% | Source |
| FY2020 | $14.3B | $684M | 4.8% | -3.8% | Source |
| FY2019 | $14.9B | $1.8B | 12.0% | +8.6% | Source |
| FY2018 | $13.7B | $1.1B | 8.1% | +15.7% | Source |
| FY2017 | $11.8B | $1.2B | 10.6% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
Coty
- Prestige~66%
Prestige net revenues were $3,805.8 million in FY2026, roughly flat reported and down 4% like-for-like, covering prestige fragrance, cosmetics and skincare.
- Consumer Beauty~34%
Consumer Beauty net revenues were $2,000.8 million in FY2026, down 3% reported and 7% like-for-like, covering mass color cosmetics, mass fragrance and body care.
Estée Lauder
- Skin Care
Largest category
La Mer, Estée Lauder, Clinique, The Ordinary and Dr.Jart+. Skin care net sales rose 4% in fiscal 2026, led by La Mer, The Ordinary and Estée Lauder.
- Makeup
Second-largest category
MAC, Clinique, Estée Lauder, Bobbi Brown, Too Faced and Tom Ford makeup sold through specialty retail, department stores and online.
- Fragrance
Third-largest category
Jo Malone London, Tom Ford, Le Labo, Kilian Paris and Frédéric Malle, sold at luxury price points.
- Hair Care
Smallest category
Mainly Aveda and Bumble and bumble, sold through salons, specialty retail and online.
Business model and strategy
Coty
How it makes money
Coty makes money in two divisions. Prestige ($3.81 billion, 66% of FY2026 sales) develops, manufactures and markets fragrances and cosmetics, mostly under long-term licenses from fashion houses such as Burberry, Hugo Boss, Calvin Klein, Marc Jacobs and Chloé, plus owned or controlled brands such as Kylie Cosmetics; Coty pays the brand owner royalties and keeps the manufacturing, marketing and distribution margin.
Growth strategy
Under Coty.Curated, Coty is betting on a smaller set of core prestige franchises: BOSS Bottled Beyond (including a female version in FY2027), Burberry Goddess, Calvin Klein Euphoria Elixirs and CK One, Kylie Cosmetics fragrance and lip lines, and Marc Jacobs Beauty makeup, which moves from online into hundreds of U.S. Sephora stores and travel retail.
Competitive advantage
Coty's edge is scale in fragrance. It runs one of the industry's largest portfolios of designer fragrance licenses, with in-house perfume development, manufacturing and global distribution that fashion houses would struggle to replicate on their own.
Estée Lauder
How it makes money
Estée Lauder makes money by developing, manufacturing and marketing prestige skin care, makeup, fragrance and hair care products, then selling them at premium prices through department stores, specialty retailers such as Sephora and Ulta Beauty, travel retail (duty-free), salons, its own freestanding stores and brand websites, and third-party platforms.
Growth strategy
Under Beauty Reimagined, Estée Lauder is concentrating investment on hero products and faster innovation, expanding into channels where prestige shoppers now buy (including Amazon's U.S. Premium Beauty store and wider specialty retail), diversifying away from Asia travel retail, and running the business through a leaner "One ELC" operating model.
Competitive advantage
Estée Lauder's advantage is a portfolio of long-lived prestige brands, several of which (Advanced Night Repair, Crème de la Mer, Clinique 3-Step, MAC Studio Fix) have decades of repeat purchase behind them. It also has global manufacturing, research and distribution scale that standalone prestige brands lack, and a large force of point-of-sale beauty advisors in department stores and travel retail.
Questions about Coty vs Estée Lauder
Which company has higher revenue — Coty Inc. or The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.?
Coty Inc. reported $5.8B (FY2026), while The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. reported $15.0B (FY2026). By last reported revenue, The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. is the larger business, with Coty Inc. reporting a smaller revenue base.
What is the market cap of Coty Inc. vs The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.?
Coty Inc. has a market capitalisation of $2.3B. A public market cap figure for The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. was not available (it may be privately held).
Which is more financially efficient — Coty Inc. or The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.?
Coty Inc. generates $512k / employee in revenue per employee, while The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. generates $264k / employee. Coty Inc. shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do Coty Inc. and The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. make money?
Coty Inc. and The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Coty Inc.: Coty makes money in two divisions. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.: Estée Lauder makes money by developing, manufacturing and marketing prestige skin care, makeup, fragrance and hair care products, then selling them at premium prices through department stores, specialty retailers such as Sephora and Ulta Beauty, travel retail (duty-free), salons, its own freestanding stores and brand websites, and third-party platforms.
Is Coty Inc. bigger than The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.?
By last reported revenue, The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. ($15.0B (FY2026)) is the larger company compared to Coty Inc. ($5.8B (FY2026)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Coty vs Estée Lauder overview