LVMH reported its first-quarter earnings of 2025 Monday, and Sephora was a notable weak point for the luxury conglomerate’s U.S. presence—even though the fashion brand is performing well globally.
While U.S. demand for jewelry, leather, and fashion “remained well oriented and accelerated modestly” compared to the back half of 2024, “Sephora on the other hand faced very challenging comps after going double-digit last year and this explained the sequential deceleration of the U.S. market at group level,” Cecile Cabanis, LVMH’s chief financial officer, said on the call.
Sephora, overall, had a fairly good first quarter with solid brick-and-mortar growth and product sales. But Sephora is experiencing “a bit less momentum when it comes to e-commerce” in the United States specifically, "because Amazon is being very aggressive and being aggressive is mostly regarding price, and we try to avoid this technique.”
LVMH did not immediately return Fortune’s request for comment.
For relevant products, it appears that Amazon can match Sephora, if not beat it outright, in pricing. For Kérastase’s Gloss Absolu hair product, for instance, Sephora sells the 1.52-ounce bottle for $36; on Amazon, that same product is $26—a discount of roughly 28%.
Goldman Sachs’ Louise Singlehurst asked Cabanis on the call about the recent “period of unprecedented headlines,” and sure enough, LVMH’s finance boss did admit that uncertainty in the market appears to be having “some impact” on demand.
“It’s true that operational clientele is way more vulnerable in less positive economic cycles and uncertainties, and it might have had some impact in recent weeks,” Cabanis said.
LVMH’s overall revenue fell 3% in the first quarter, but the company said it’s proud of how the company “continues to demonstrate resilience” during turbulent times.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
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