The maker of Bobbi Brown, MAC and other cosmetics said on Friday that it expected to earn between 27 cents and 31 cents a share this quarter and that it would take charges of about $7 million, or about 1 cent a share, during that time.
Analysts on average were expecting the company to earn 41 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
For the second quarter ended Dec. 31, the company posted a higher profit as strong demand for its makeup and skin-care products lifted sales.
Net income rose to $396.7 million, or $1.00 a share, from $343.9 million, or 86 cents a share, a year earlier.
Excluding special items, the profit of $1.01 a share was in line with the analysts' average forecast.
Estee Lauder shares were down 6.7 percent at $54.90 before the market opened.
(Reporting by Phil Wahba in New York and Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Chicago; Editing by John Wallace and Lisa Von Ahn)