Hermès is officially the most valuable luxury stock in the world. Following missed sales by fellow French luxury brand LVMH, which saw its shares plummet 7.8% in an unexpected decline in the first quarter, rival Hermès rises to the top.
Dethroning LVMH, Hermès is now the world’s most luxury company with the brand having a market cap of $276.3 billion USD. It surpasses LVMH Möet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE’s valuation of $274.5 billion USD. According to Bloomberg, the numbers place Hermès in the third spot on the list of Europe’s largest listed companies, falling behind software brand SAP SE and weight-loss drug supplier Novo Nordisk A/S. LVMH’s poor Q1 performance saw a 3% decline in sales, which fell below analysts 2% growth in the same period. Bloomberg spoke with Jelena Sokolova, an analyst at Morningstar who said of Hermès rise in ranks, “Hermès is seen as more resilient in certain environments, which are more uncertain, and that’s exactly what is happening right now.”
This is a major feat for Hermès as in 2010, LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault shocked the luxury industry when he upped his stake acquisition in the Birkin handbag maker to 17%. At the time, the Hermès was able to successfully force Arnault to sell his shares as the family saw this as a ruthless takeover by “the wolf in cashmere.” While Arnault is often listed as a part of the world’s richest people in the world, currently ranking in fifth on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the Hermès family, whose sixth generation heir Axel Dumas runs the company, is considered to be Europe’s wealthiest with an estimated fortune of about $171 billion USD as of December 2024. During Q3 last year, Hermès saw an increase in sales by 11.3% and continued to trend upwards with an overall 13% increase in 2024.
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