Has the US market fallen behind? The stock price of Lefeng Group plummets, while the entire European luxury market experiences a downturn.
Luxury goods giant LVMH and Hermès fell 3.7% and 4.2% respectively, dragged down by a sharp 10% drop in Longbridge Dolphin, marking its largest decline in 14 months. This decline also weighed on other European luxury brands during intraday trading.
The slowdown in demand in the US market and underperformance in performance have caused the stock price of luxury goods giant Lefeng Group to plummet, dragging down the entire "luxury moat" in Europe.
Overnight, Lefeng Group fell by 10%, marking the largest decline in 14 months, dragging down other European luxury goods giants during trading hours. The two largest companies in Europe by market value, LVMH and Hermès, fell by 3.7% and 4.2% respectively.
On the news front, the first-quarter sales of the group's jewelry brands, Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels, were slightly lower than expected, despite being boosted by the recovery of the Chinese economy, they were dragged down by the slowdown in the US luxury goods market.
The overall sales of Lefeng Group increased by 19% when calculated at a fixed exchange rate, slightly lower than analysts' expectations, but sales in the US region turned negative.
In response, Emmanuel Cau, Head of European Equity Strategy at Barclays, said:
The market is too confident in the power of US consumers, which is why we are seeing an impact on luxury goods today. The US is in a phase of excessive savings being exhausted and inflation eroding disposable income.
Analysts at Bernstein are also cautious about Lefeng Group's prospects for this year, as the company has a high exposure to risks in jewelry and other luxury goods, which have been driving the group's sales. However, in the case of an economic slowdown, purchases by middle-class consumers may slow down. Luca Solca, an analyst at Bernstein, said:
The US is the weakest region, which seems to be consistent with Lefeng Group's relatively weak performance in the US compared to its peers in the previous quarter.
Burkhart Grund, CFO of Lefeng Group, said during a conference call with analysts on Monday afternoon that the group's full-year outlook remains unchanged. Although sales in the US market have started to rebound in June after a decline in May, he stated that "we have not yet emerged from the predicament" and expressed caution about the 2024 US presidential election, as elections often impact the demand for luxury goods.