MC: LVMH Stock Goes Out of Fashion as Luxury Powerhouse Profit Dives 15% to €9.01 Billion

House of Bernard Arnault posted its second quarter in a row where sales can’t reach estimates. What does this say about the stock and the industry?

👜 Luxury Loses Its Shine

• LVMH stock MC dropped another 2% early Friday, adding to Thursday’s 2% post-earnings slide. The world’s largest luxury conglomerate reported a 15% drop in first-half operating profit to €9.01 billion and its second consecutive quarterly sales miss.
• Second-quarter revenue came in at €19.5 billion, falling 4% from a year ago and just shy of analyst expectations of €19.6 billion. It’s the fifth miss in six quarters — not a great trend for the Paris-listed company once seen as the gold standard in premium performance.
• The stock is now down 26% year-to-date, and more than 50% off its 2023 peak valuation north of $500 billion. For CEO Bernard Arnault’s empire, the question is no longer “how high can it go?” but “where’s the floor?”

📉 Soft Sales, Fading Glamor

• Luxury demand is cooling, especially in previously bulletproof markets like China and the US. While LVMH didn’t blame a specific geography, the industry-wide slowdown has made it clear: the post-COVID luxury boom is over.
• First-half sales landed at €39.81 billion, a whisker below the €39.87 billion consensus. Net income came in at €5.7 billion, below the expected €5.9 billion.
• For a company used to topping estimates with ease, this kind of sustained underperformance is rather unusual — and for investors, it’s a wake-up call that even the bling has a ceiling.

🔍 What It Says About the Industry

• LVMH owns titans like Dior, Louis Vuitton, Fendi, and Moët, making it a proxy for the broader high-end market. If this house of luxury is struggling, so is the industry — especially at the ultra-premium tier.
• With sluggish global growth, sticky inflation, and a more cautious high-income consumer, the sector is facing its first real test in years. Shoppers aren’t necessarily trading down — but they’re pausing, and that pause is hitting earnings.
• The good news? LVMH is still profitable. The bad news? It’s increasingly priced like a growth stock, not a value one — and five out of six misses don’t make for a great growth story.