Equity Analysts React to Kering’s Capital Markets Day

Luca de Meo talked a good talk at Kering’s Capital Markets Day in Florence, but did not extinguish all investor doubts, nor completely satisfy equity analysts.

“We believe the market would like some additional comfort on 2026 revenue ambitions, which appear optimistic for Gucci in particular, given tougher [second half] base of comparison,” RBC analyst Piral Dadhania wrote in a research note Friday. “We retain our Sector Perform rating as we await more evidence of Gucci inflection before turning more positive.”

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According to Dadhania, “There remains a question on the achievability of Kering’s 2026 revenue growth objectives, particularly as it relates to Gucci.…The bull case view is that management may have visibility and self-help levers that the market is unaware of and is apparently unwilling to communicate for now, despite multiple questions.”

Luca Solca, luxury analyst at Bernstein, offered kudos to Kering management for its good intentions and hard work on multiple fronts.

“What they seem to still miss is a clear idea of how the Gucci spiciness could be relevant in the current social and cultural times,” Solca told WWD. “My understanding is that they are not sure yet and are still working on this.”

In his view, Gucci’s return to growth hinges on gaining new meaning. “Without a meaning that consumers are prepared to project on fashion and luxury brands, products — and their prices — are not compelling,” he said.

Investment bank Jefferies, which trimmed its price target for Kering to 250 euros, said the move was not a direct reflection of Kering’s big day in Florence, where de Meo unveiled his strategic roadmap and said the group would more than double group EBIT margins in the medium term.

“It is rather a reflection on current Gucci brand heat metrics, which so far do not help us triangulate a compellingly priced optionality or recovery,” the Jefferies report said. “It appears obvious that the market is looking for clearer signals of a major turn in Gucci’s revenues. This was not forthcoming yesterday.”

Shares in Kering closed up 3 percent Friday on the Paris bourse after shedding 3.9 percent on Thursday. They are down 16.7 percent year to date.

RBC Capital markets applauded recent moves at the Kering, with de Meo creating two group centers of excellence, Industry and Client, in a bid to optimize its operational efficiency and speed brand turnarounds.

“Whilst we agree the benefits for many of these organizational changes will be positive and the full impact of Demna’s collections and changes to the product set at Gucci, as well as the eventual roll out of the new store concept, the impact of these changes will be gradual rather than binary which requires patience as an investor, in our view,” Dadhania wrote.