LVMH shares fall 6 per cent after missing second quarter estimates

Shares in French luxury giant LVMH (LVMH.PA) fell more than 6 per cent on Wednesday and were on track for their biggest one-day drop since October 2023 after its second-quarter sales growth missed consensus estimates.

The world’s biggest luxury group on Tuesday reported its quarterly sales rose 1 per cent year on year to 20.98 bln euros ($22.76 bln), undershooting the 21.6 billion expected by analysts polled by LSEG analysts.

The earnings miss also weighed on other luxury stocks, with Hermes (HRMS.PA) down around 3 per cent and Kering (PRTP.PA) off by more than 4 per cent.

Kering is scheduled to report second-quarter sales after the market close and Hermes reports on Thursday.

A lack of visibility for the second half of the year beyond the easing of comparative figures — as the Chinese post-pandemic lockdown bounce tapered off a year ago — is unlikely to improve investor sentiment regarding the high end sector, Citi analyst Thomas Chauvet said in an emailed note to clients.

“No miracle with the luxury bellwether; sector likely to remain out of favour,” Chauvet wrote.

Analysts from Jefferies said the miss came as investors eye Chinese shoppers for their potential to “resume their pre-COVID role as the locomotive of industry growth and debate when Western consumers will have fully digested their COVID overspend”.

LVMH shares have been volatile since the luxury slowdown emerged, and are down about 20 per cent over the past year, with concern focused middle-class shoppers in China, the world’s No. 2 economy, who are reining in purchases because of a property slump and job insecurity.