Hermès continues to impress. On Friday morning, the French luxury house announced sales were up 18 per cent year-on-year at constant exchange rates to €4 billion in the fourth quarter, ending 31 December 2024.
This is well above consensus estimates of an 11 per cent increase, and marks an acceleration compared with the third quarter (up 11 per cent). “Hermès joins the elite club of those smashing fourth-quarter forecasts [alongside Richemont],” wrote Bernstein luxury goods analyst Luca Solca in a note.
For the full year, Hermès sales were up 15 per cent to €15.2 billion. Hermès’s outperformance sent the stock up 8.4 per cent in early morning trading. The company’s valuation is now $319 billion, passing the $300 billion mark for the first time this February.
Its performance sets it apart from most of its luxury rivals. LVMH’s Q4 sales grew 1 per cent on an organic basis to around €23.95 billion, with its fashion and leather goods division declining 1 per cent. Kering’s sales fell 12 per cent year-on-year to €4.97 billion in the same three-month period. The Moncler brand reported 8 per cent year-on-year growth, while Richemont posted sales up 10 per cent at constant exchange rates.
Hermès said its growth in the fourth quarter was driven by the Americas (up 22.3 per cent), Europe (up 17 per cent) and Japan (up 22.4 per cent), while Asia-Pacific was up 8.9 per cent. Asked about the current climate in China, Hermès executive chairman Axel Dumas told analysts: “I see positive signs. Does this mean that structurally it has started again? It is too early to draw conclusions.” Solca noted that there’s “no major sign of momentum slowing down in Japan, given the [fourth-quarter] growth rate was largely in line with the third quarter”.
By category, key growth drivers were leather goods (21.5 per cent); ready-to-wear and accessories (up 17.4 per cent); “Other” Hermès product lines, which include jewellery and homeware (also up 17.4 per cent); and perfumes and beauty (up 16.9 per cent). Watch sales rose 2.6 per cent.
At the earnings conference held at the Hermès store on Rue de Sèvres in Paris, Dumas confirmed plans to launch Hermès couture. “What interests us in haute couture is know-how. I’m very excited,” the executive added. Pressed to provide a timeline, he said 2026/2027. In beauty, the company plans to develop skincare.
Hermès said it will grant a bonus of €4,500 to all global employees at the beginning of the year in respect of 2024. Early in 2024, the group paid a new bonus of €4,000 to its employees.
Store openings for the year will be in Florence, Kitzbühel, Knokke-Le Zoute, Nashville, Phoenix, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, plus around 20 stores will be upsized.
The company plans to increase prices between 6 and 7 per cent in 2025. However, Dumas noted that there could be an “exception in case of tariffs”. “One of the things that worries me most is the evolution of geopolitical relations at the moment: we produce in France and we sell all over the world, so we still need to trade. After that, it’s not tariffs that worry me, it’s more the tensions between the nation.”
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