Estee Lauder soars as CEO calls ‘inflection point’

Shares of Estee Lauder popped more than 13% Monday after the cosmetics company delivered better-than-expected results for its fiscal second quarter. More important in driving the market action, however, was CEO Fabrizio Freda’s comment that “we are, encouragingly, at an inflection point.” Revenue fell 7% year over year to $4.28 billion, outpacing the Street consensus of $4.19 billion, according to estimates compiled by LSEG. Sales were down 8% on an organic basis, slightly better than the 9% organic decline expected by analysts. Adjusted earnings-per-share (EPS) fell 43% to 88 cents per share, beating the Street estimate of 55 cents. Bottom…