LVMH Q1 slowdown
- LVMH reported muted first-quarter 2026 sales growth, falling short of spring rebound hopes. - Organic revenue rose about 1% to roughly €19.1 billion in Q1 2026. - Brands flagged weakened Gulf tourism and spending hurt sales, even as South Korea still generated nearly 5 trillion won in demand (thefinancialdistrict.com.ph) (nytimes.com) (en.sedaily.com).
LVMH opened 2026 with almost no growth, reporting first-quarter sales that undershot hopes for a stronger luxury rebound. (lvmh.com) The French group said revenue totaled €19.1 billion in the quarter ended March 31, down 6% as reported and up 1% on an organic basis, which strips out currency moves and acquisitions. (lvmh.com) Its biggest division, Fashion and Leather Goods, posted €9.25 billion in revenue, down 9% as reported and down 2% organically. Watches and Jewelry grew 7% organically, while Selective Retailing, which includes Sephora, rose 4% organically. (lvmh.com) LVMH said the United States got off to a good start in 2026, and Europe and Japan held up on local demand even as tourist spending weakened. Asia excluding Japan grew strongly, extending an improvement the company said began in the second half of 2025. (lvmh.com) The weak spot was the Middle East. LVMH said conflict there hit business in March after what it called a very positive start to the year, and reduced quarterly organic growth by about 1 percentage point. (lvmh.com) That matters for luxury groups because the Gulf had become one of the brighter pockets of spending as China cooled and Europe relied more heavily on wealthy travelers. LVMH’s 2025 results already showed sales slipping from €84.7 billion in 2024 to €80.8 billion in 2025, with fourth-quarter organic growth at 1%. (lvmh.com 1) (lvmh.com 2) South Korea is moving in the opposite direction. Seoul Economic Daily reported this month that Hermès, Louis Vuitton and Chanel together generated nearly 4.9 trillion won in South Korea in 2025, including 1.85 trillion won for Louis Vuitton Korea and just over 2.0 trillion won for Chanel Korea. (en.sedaily.com 1) (en.sedaily.com 2) (en.sedaily.com 3) Those Korean numbers suggest luxury demand is still there, but it is concentrated in fewer markets and harder to generalize across regions. For LVMH, that left a first quarter defined less by a spring pickup than by how uneven the recovery has become. (en.sedaily.com) (lvmh.com)
