TIP852: Hermès and LVMH Stock: Time to Buy Luxury? w/ Daniel Mahncke & Shawn O'Malley

What It Covers

Daniel Mahncke and Shawn O'Malley revisit Hermès and LVMH after both stocks dropped significantly from prior coverage — Hermès down 35-50% from highs, LVMH posting seven consecutive quarters of negative organic growth in fashion and leather — analyzing whether current valuations finally justify entry into luxury equities.

Key Questions Answered

• •Aspirational buyer risk: Luxury brands generating roughly half their market value from aspirational buyers — those spending €1,500–€5,000 annually — face structural cyclicality that top-tier brands avoid. When LVMH raised Louis Vuitton bag prices 60% between 2019 and 2023 (from $1,500 to $2,500), they priced out this cohort permanently without being able to discount back, trapping themselves between unaffordable pricing and brand dilution risk.
• •China luxury collapse mechanics: Chinese consumers fell from one-third of global luxury spending to under one-fifth in roughly three years. The property market decline — now four years running with home prices expected to fall another 4-5% in 2025 before stabilizing in 2027 — destroyed perceived household wealth, pushing savings rates above 30% of disposable income and collapsing the aspirational buyer segment that drove China's 25% annual luxury growth from 2016 to 2019.
• •Luxury cycle timing framework: Historical property downturns across countries average five to six years with roughly 30% price corrections. China's downturn began in 2021, placing it in year four or five with corrections already exceeding 30%. European luxury stocks historically outperform broader markets by 9-12% in the twelve months following a consumer confidence bottom, suggesting late-cycle positioning may be forming but not yet confirmed.
• •LVMH profit concentration risk: Despite owning 75+ brands across five segments, LVMH generates 75% of operating profit from fashion and leather goods, with the Louis Vuitton brand alone accounting for roughly half of that segment's profit. Operating margins in this segment declined from 42% in 2021 to 34% in early 2025 — seven percentage points lost — and management states 3-4% revenue growth is required just to restore positive operating leverage.
• •Cognac secular decline signal: Hennessy US sales dropped from 5 million cases in 2020 to under 3 million in 2024 — a 40% peak decline — as Gen Z alcohol consumption fell 10 percentage points since 2023 and tequila displaced cognac as the status spirit. The wine and spirits segment shrank from 15% of LVMH operating profit in 2019 to under 6% in 2024, limiting further downside impact on the overall investment thesis.
• •Hermès valuation entry framework: At €1,400 per share trading at approximately 32x earnings, a base case model projecting 7-8% revenue CAGR through 2030 with mid-single-digit growth in 2026-2027 accelerating to high-single to low-double digits by 2028-2030 yields roughly 12-13% expected annual return including dividends. The hosts set a personal threshold closer to 20x earnings before conviction buying, which historically would require brand-damaging events that would undermine the thesis itself.