LVMH dethroned by Hermès as world’s most valuable luxury stock after sales miss

Shares of LVMH plunged 8% on Tuesday, at times losing its position as world’s largest luxury firm to rival Hermès after an unexpected decline in first-quarter sales.

LVMH reported a 3% year-on-year fall in first-quarter sales in a trading update published shortly after the market close on Monday, missing consensus analyst expectations for slight growth.

The results pulled down the wider sector in morning deals amid broader market gains. Kering shares declined 4.2%, Burberry fell 4.3% while Richemont traded 1.6% lower.

LVMH shares were down 7.9% at 2:07 p.m. in London, on course for the worst session since March 2020. A smaller 0.8% dip in the share price of Hermès saw the Birkin bag-maker’s market capitalization surpass that of LVMH.

The afternoon moves put LVMH’s market capitalization at 244 billion euros ($276.4 billion) against Hermès’ 244.3 billion euros, according to a CNBC calculation of LSEG data.

LVMH spent several years as Europe’s most valuable company starting with 2021, as luxury stocks were buoyed by hopes of a post-Covid-19 pandemic boom. It has lost more 45% of its value since its record close in 2023.

It was overtaken by Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk in late 2023 — before the maker of weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy was itself usurped by German software firm SAP in March 2025.