LVMH saw quarterly sales dip amid an “uncertain economic and geopolitical environment.”
The luxury retail giant reported third-quarter earnings that showed a 3% drop in revenues — to 19.1 billion euros — while sales in its core fashion and leather goods units — which includes brands like Dior and Louis Vuitton — dropped 5%.
Both the company’s group revenue and sales were below analyst expectations, the Financial Times (FT) reported.
“There were misses across the board,” Luca Solca, analyst at Bernstein, told the FT. “We see LVMH as the weakest among the quality names. Richemont we believe will be better, Hermès will be best.”
The Paris-based company said the drop “mainly arose from lower growth seen in Japan, essentially due to the stronger yen.”
Per the FT report, Chief financial officer Jean-Jacques Guiony told analysts that consumer confidence in mainland China had dipped to COVID-era lows as consumers there scale back their spending amid a darker economic outlook and weak housing market.
PYMNTS wrote about the luxury sector last week, noting that a series of partnerships and acquisitions in this space were critical strategies for navigating an increasingly complicated economic landscape.
The report came in the wake of Mytheresa’s acquisition of YNAP from Richemont, with the aim of creating a leading global digital luxury group.
“This move will combine Mytheresa with YNAP’s renowned brands, including Net-A-Porter and Mr. Porter, enhancing the luxury offerings available to high-end consumers. The integration aims to leverage the strengths of both companies, merging their unique brand propositions and operational efficiencies while maintaining distinct identities,” PYMNTS wrote.
At the same time, the launch of the Authentic Luxury Group (ALG) by Authentic Brands Group and Saks Global marks another significant collaboration. Retail analysts point out that these collaborations can bring about operational efficiencies, allowing luxury brands to streamline back-end functions and reach a broader audience.
By sharing resources and insights, companies such Mytheresa and Authentic Brands Group are setting themselves up to thrive in a challenging market.
“Mytheresa’s acquisition of Yoox Net-a-Porter is a prime example of how companies are partnering to create operational efficiencies, scale operations and expand their reach to multiple segments of luxury consumers,” Amanda Lai, a retail analyst and director for consultancy McMillanDoolittle, told PYMNTS.
“The combined entity can likely reduce costs by consolidating many of its back-end business functions, such as legal, IT and human resources while leveraging its multiple brands — MyTheresa, Net-A-Porter, and Mr. Porter — to reach different high-end consumers.”
It is the first Monday of 2025, and at least one thing is already different: Apple’s finance function. The world’s largest company, with a $3.27 trillion market cap, has a new CFO.
Kevan Parekh, formerly Apple’s vice president of financial planning and analysis, has officially replaced Luca Maestri at the helm of the biggest enterprise back office in existence, per a recent 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The news comes as Apple is approaching a $4 trillion valuation based on the company’s artificial intelligence (AI) effort, making, the stakes of selecting the right financial leader immense.
The move by the Cupertino giant underscores a broader trend in the evolving role of CFOs across industries. As businesses confront a rapidly evolving, and uncertain, economic landscape defined by technological innovation, globalization, and rising stakeholder expectations, the finance department finds itself increasingly at a pivotal crossroads.
“Mr. Parekh joined Apple in June 2013 and assumed his current position in January 2025. Mr. Parekh’s previous positions at Apple include Vice President, Financial Planning and Analysis and Vice President, Finance for Sales, Marketing, and Retail. Prior to joining Apple, Mr. Parekh held various senior leadership roles at Thomson Reuters and General Motors,” Apple’s filing noted.
With Apple at the forefront of innovation and a leader in corporate governance, this transition offers a glimpse into the priorities and challenges shaping the CFO agenda for 2025 and beyond.
Apple’s former chief financial officer (CFO), Maestri, is expected to continue to lead Apple’s Corporate Services teams, including information systems and technology, information security, and real estate and development.
Read more: What Year-End CFO Moves Say About Finance Role’s Evolution
While Apple’s CFO transition is headline-worthy, it mirrors broader shifts in the role of CFOs across industries. Once viewed as a back-office function focused primarily on bookkeeping and compliance, finance is increasingly becoming a strategic partner tasked with driving growth, agility, and resilience.
PYMNTS talks to a lot of CFOs across industries, and as covered here earlier, among the five biggest trends reshaping both the finance function and its place at the table are the shift to real-time financial operations, the integration of AI and machine learning (ML) tools, the convergence of compliance and strategic growth, cybersecurity and risk management, and unlocking the role of payments innovations.
Apple operates in a global economy fraught with challenges, from inflationary pressures to geopolitical tensions. The CFO’s ability to navigate currency volatility, manage cost structures, and optimize global tax strategies will be paramount in 2025.
For CFOs at large enterprises, financial agility is equally key. This includes hedging against risks, maintaining liquidity to seize opportunities and leveraging data analytics to anticipate and mitigate macroeconomic disruptions. After all, the era of static financial reporting is fading. Businesses are moving toward real-time financial insights enabled by data analytics and integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.
Read more: The Five Not-So-Obvious Things That Will Change The Digital Economy in 2025
Apple’s own deepening investments in AI are no secret. From the integration of AI into its product ecosystem to its rumored ambitions in generative AI, the CFO’s role in managing these high-stakes bets is pivotal.
For other CFOs, AI investments require a balancing act between immediate R&D expenditures and long-term value creation. Strategic allocation of resources, evaluating ROI on nascent technologies, and aligning these investments with regulatory and ethical considerations are all critical components of the modern CFO’s playbook.
According to a PYMNTS Intelligence report, “Most CFOs See Limited ROI From GenAI, but Boost Its Investment,” 75% of CFOs plan to increase their AI investment.
Moreover, as AI becomes more pervasive, CFOs are uniquely positioned to leverage AI-driven analytics for internal efficiencies. From real-time financial forecasting to predictive supply chain management, the next-generation CFO must embrace AI not only as a product investment but also as a core operational tool.
Another PYMNTS Intelligence report, “Outlook 2025: CFOs Envision Growing Role for Generative AI in Finance,” finds CFOs are also adopting generative AI in finance for strategic and financial tasks. More than 60% of CFOs reported using GenAI for creating data visualizations and reports to help improve the clarity and accessibility of complex financial data.
“Incorporating data into the money flow will provide significant improvements for businesses,” Seamus Smith, executive vice president and group president at FIS, told PYMNTS. “Organizations that are early adopters and larger-scale consumers of new technology will accelerate ahead.”