INSIGHT Market Monitor: LVMH, Hermès, and Kering: What the Quarterly Results Reveal About the Luxury Market
The quarterly results from LVMH, Hermès, and Kering reveal a luxury market that is becoming increasingly segmented. While fashion and leather goods are under pressure at two of the three groups, the jewelry business continues to hold its own as a category with comparatively strong growth. The companies’ results thus confirm a trend that has been evident in the specialty jewelry retail sector for some time. At the same time, the figures raise questions about the brands’ future positioning and the profitability of their distribution models.
The Numbers at a Glance
| Group | Revenue for Q3 2026 | Change* |
|---|---|---|
| Hermès | 4.10 billion euros | +4.3% |
| LVMH | 18.50 billion euros | +1% |
| Kering | 3.35 billion euros | −1% |
*Organic revenue growth, or revenue growth adjusted for currency and structural effects, compared with Q3 2025.
Hermès continues to grow at a faster rate than the other two groups, though its momentum has slowed compared with the second quarter. LVMH posted a moderate increase in revenue, while Kering has yet to achieve growth, despite an improvement over previous quarters.
However, the real differences only become apparent when looking at the individual business segments. An analysis of LVMH’s quarterly results had already shown that the luxury market is evolving at different paces. The results from Hermès and Kering confirm this picture.
Three Corporations, Different Trajectories
At Hermès, the leather goods business remains the most important driver of growth. Sales in this segment rose by 10.8 percent, while the watch division saw a 6 percent decline. The other product segments also showed mixed results.
At LVMH, the picture is different. While fashion and leather goods posted a five percent decline in sales, the watches and jewelry division grew by six percent. This marks a continuation of the divergent performance of the two segments.
Kering, meanwhile, continues to suffer from the weakness of its flagship brand, Gucci. Gucci’s revenue fell by 6 percent in the third quarter. At the same time, other business segments are performing better. The jewelry business, in particular, is helping to partially offset the declines in the fashion segment.
The results show how differently even large, internationally active luxury conglomerates can perform. The decisive factors are not only the economic conditions, but also the positioning of individual brands, the composition of their product portfolios, and their presence in their respective markets.
Our Market Monitor on the performance of luxury stocks has already shown that operational business performance and financial market valuations do not always align.
Jewelry Proves Its Strength
It is no surprise that the jewelry business is performing relatively well in a challenging market environment. Retailers in the industry have been reporting this trend for about two years now. While customers are sometimes holding back on other luxury goods, demand for high-quality jewelry remains stable or is growing in many areas.
CHRIST CEO Dr. Gunnar Binder also confirmed this trend in an interview with INSIGHT-LUXURY. He reported remarkably stable demand for jewelry, a growing preference for higher-end products, and rising average transaction values. Binder views the emotional significance of jewelry and customers’ willingness to invest in high-quality products as particularly important factors.
The latest consolidated financial results once again confirm this trend.
Kering Jewelry posted third-quarter revenue of 239 million euros, growing 11 percent on a comparable basis. Sales at its own retail stores rose by as much as 18 percent. The division’s key brands include Boucheron, Pomellato, DoDo, and Qeelin.
LVMH is also continuing its positive momentum. The combined Watches and Jewelry division posted organic growth of 6 percent, generating quarterly revenue of approximately 2.5 billion euros. Over the first nine months, growth stood at 8 percent.
However, direct comparability is limited. While Kering reports its jewelry operations separately, LVMH combines watches and jewelry into a single segment. Hermès, on the other hand, does not publish standalone jewelry figures. The segment, which includes jewelry along with home accessories, declined by 1.1 percent.
Nevertheless, it is clear that jewelry continues to play an important role in driving growth within the luxury industry. The current results are less a reflection of a surprising shift in the market and more a continuation of a trend that has been evident for some time.
However, the strength of individual international jewelry brands should not be equated with the performance of the jewelry market as a whole. As our analysis of German retail figures for the first half of 2026 shows, nominal sales increases are in some cases accompanied by significantly weaker real performance. Rising material prices and higher average prices can prop up sales without a corresponding increase in the number of products sold.
China remains a key source of uncertainty
Regional trends provide another explanation for the differing results. While demand in the U.S. and parts of Europe remains relatively stable, business conditions in China continue to be challenging.
At Hermès, revenue in Asia (excluding Japan) has stagnated, while revenue in the Americas grew by 8.8 percent and in Europe (excluding France) by 9.5 percent. At LVMH, revenue in Asia (excluding Japan) declined by 5 percent. The fashion and leather goods business has been particularly hard hit.
At Kering, the situation is particularly evident at Gucci. The brand is suffering from lower customer traffic, especially in China and Japan. Other brands within the group are performing better.
China thus remains a major influence on the international luxury market. At the same time, the results show that regional declines in demand do not affect all brands and product categories equally.
Our INSIGHT BUSINESS Market Monitor Global had already highlighted these changes. In addition to regional shifts, demand is being influenced by more conscious purchasing behavior, the growing importance of the secondhand market, and changing expectations regarding luxury products.
Sales: Company-Owned Boutiques Under Scrutiny
In addition to product categories, the development of distribution structures deserves special attention. In recent years, numerous luxury brands have expanded their own boutique networks and pushed back against traditional wholesale. Meanwhile, the focus is increasingly shifting to the profitability of these structures.
Kering’s latest figures provide a clear example of this. In the third quarter, the company’s directly operated retail business, including e-commerce, declined by 3 percent, while wholesale and other revenue increased by 3 percent. In the first nine months, the group reduced its store network by a net total of 105 locations. At least 125 net closures are planned by the end of the year.
The trend at Gucci is particularly striking. While sales at its own retail stores are down by 9 percent, the wholesale business is growing by 45 percent. However, this growth is coming from a low base and is influenced, among other things, by the release of new collections. It is still too early to conclude that this signals a fundamental shift back toward wholesale.
In the jewelry business, however, the picture is different. Kering Jewelry’s own retail sales are up 18 percent, while wholesale and other sales are down 6 percent.
The figures make it clear that there is no one-size-fits-all answer to the question of the right distribution model. Owning their own boutiques gives brands control over product presentation, the customer experience, and pricing. At the same time, they incur significant fixed costs and require a corresponding level of customer traffic.
Independent specialty retailers can play an important role in situations where operating their own brand boutiques is less economically viable or where a broader product range better meets customers’ needs.
Jean-Christophe Babin described a similar perspective in an INSIGHT LUXURY interview about the future of the watch industry. The expansion of direct-to-consumer sales by major brands is increasingly forcing multibrand retailers to realign their product ranges and discover new brands. Babin sees this not only as a necessity but also as an opportunity.
What does this mean for the watch and jewelry retail industry?
For specialty retailers, the group’s figures initially confirm a trend that many jewelers are already familiar with from their own businesses: In a challenging consumer environment, jewelry often holds up better than other luxury goods. The results from Kering and LVMH provide further evidence of this, though they do not allow for the derivation of a general growth rate for the jewelry market.
In the watch industry, the picture remains more mixed. Hermès reports a 6 percent decline in its watch division. LVMH, on the other hand, reports growth in its combined watches and jewelry segment, without breaking down the performance of the two categories separately. It is therefore difficult to draw conclusions about the overall watch market.
For independent jewelers, the evolution of distribution networks is also significant. While Kering’s reduction in the number of its own boutiques does not automatically mean a return to multi-brand retail, it does show that even large luxury conglomerates are taking a closer look at their distribution structures from an economic perspective.
This may present opportunities for qualified retail partners, particularly outside the international luxury hubs. Personalized advice, long-term customer relationships, a carefully curated product selection, and efficient service remain key selling points for brick-and-mortar specialty retailers.
However, retailers must increasingly combine these strengths with digital visibility, up-to-date information offerings, and a customer approach that is as straightforward as possible.
CHRIST CEO Gunnar Binder also emphasized in our interview that online and brick-and-mortar retail complement each other. Customers research products online and then make their purchases in-store—or do the opposite. The seamless integration of both channels has therefore long been an integral part of a successful retail strategy.
Conclusion: A market moving at different speeds
The quarterly results from Hermès, LVMH, and Kering indicate neither a broad-based recovery nor a uniform crisis in the luxury market. Rather, the differences among brands, product categories, and sales regions persist.
The jewelry business is thus confirming its strength, which has been evident for some time. At the same time, the results show that even within successful corporations, individual business units can vary considerably from one another.
A more nuanced trend is also emerging in distribution structures. Expanding a company’s own boutique networks is no longer an end in itself. It is becoming increasingly important to determine which distribution model makes economic sense in which market and for which customer group.
For specialty watch and jewelry retailers, this presents an important opportunity: It is not the size of a distribution network alone that determines its success, but rather its ability to reach customers, build trust, and turn demand into long-term business relationships.
Sources: Quarterly and revenue reports from LVMH, Hermès, and Kering for the third quarter of 2026, published in October 2026. Additional analysis based on previous market analyses and interviews by INSIGHT-LUXURY.
