Sportswear brands, French luxury groups post striking stock market results in 2019

By

Laura Galbiati

Translated by
Nicola Mira

Published
Feb 7, 2020

According to consulting firm Pambianco, the top fashion and luxury performers on the stock market last year were sportswear brands and French luxury groups. Italian luxury labels were flat, save for Moncler and Prada.

 
Among sportswear brands, the most successful on the European stock markets were Puma, whose share price rose by 66.1%, and Adidas, which posted a 59.5% increase. In the USA, the leaders were Skechers, whose share price was up 87.5% after the group closed Q3 with a 15.1% sales increase, reaching $1.35 billion (€1.2 billion), and Lululemon, whose share price also skyrocketed, rising by 87.1%. Behind them stood Nike, with a 37.6% share price increase, boosted by a Q2 revenue of $10.3 billion (€9.2 billion), equivalent to a 10% rise, and a $1.1 billion net income, equivalent to a 32% upturn. Two other sportswear brands that recorded a creditable performance on the US stock market were Columbia Sportswear, up 20.4%, and Under Armour, up 15.4%. In Asia, the top sportswear brand on the stock market was Asics, with a 34.8% share price increase.
 
In the luxury goods sector, the share prices of French giants LVMH, Kering and Hermès rose respectively by 66.3%, 48.5% and 40.6% on the Paris stock exchange. In Q3 2019, Bernard Arnault-led LVMH recorded a 17% revenue rise (organic growth was 11%), reaching €13.3 billion; Kering posted a 14.2% revenue rise based on reported figures, reaching €3.88 billion; while Hermès grew its revenue by 18% to €1.72 billion, driven by its performance on the Chinese market. Moncler’s share price increase was among the highest, rising by 39% due both to a strong Q3 revenue result, with a 12% upturn, and to the rumours about a possible sale to Kering, which were later dismissed.

In the USA, the performance of home-grown luxury groups was weak, except for Tiffany, whose share price rose by 66.9%, boosted by the announcement of the acquisition by LVMH. The share price growth of Ralph Lauren (up 13.3%) and PVH (up 11.4%) was less remarkable, while downturns were recorded by Capri Holdings (down 3.6%), Tapestry (down 18.7%) and Canada Goose (down 19.3%). In Asia, Prada posted a strong share price performance with a 27.9% rise, after closing H1 with a net revenue of €1.57 billion, up 2% at current exchange rates.
 
In Europe, the leading fast-fashion groups bounced back after a disappointing 2018. The top performer in 2019 was Italian group OVS, whose share price rose by 77.4%, and is gradually gathering momentum, after hitting rock bottom in 2018. Strong share price performances were also recorded by Next (up 70.6%), H&M (up 58.4%) and Inditex (up 43.7%).