LVMH and Unilever results point to a two-speed luxury recovery
LVMH's watches and jewellery and cognac businesses stabilised in the first half while Unilever posted its best first-half performance in a decade, but the drivers behind each are very different.
LVMH's first-half results showed organic sales climbing in Asia and the Americas, with watches and jewellery leading the group's performance and perfumes and cosmetics holding stable, helped by Parfums Christian Dior and Guerlain outperforming. Sephora recorded positive growth across all categories, reinforcing its role as a rare bright spot within the group's retail arm. On the spirits side, LVMH's Hennessy Cognac business continued its recovery in China, helping group spirits sales rise by around 3% for the first six months of the year, according to The Spirits Business. Together the figures suggest the worst of the post-pandemic luxury slowdown may be levelling out, even if growth remains modest compared with the boom years.
Unilever's update told a different but complementary story. The consumer goods group posted underlying sales growth of nearly 5% in the first half to €25.6 billion, with growth accelerating in the second quarter, driven by what WWD calls its 'power brands' Dove and Vaseline. Cosmetics Business described it as Unilever's best first-half performance in a decade, coming after the group offloaded its food business in March and doubled down on its Beauty & Wellbeing division. The divestment appears to be paying off quickly, sharpening Unilever's identity as a beauty and personal care operator rather than a diversified consumer conglomerate.
Read together, the two results underline how differently luxury and mass beauty are recovering. LVMH's gains are concentrated in hard luxury and a Cognac category clawing back Chinese demand, both of which remain sensitive to consumer confidence at the top of the market. Unilever's growth is broader and structural, reflecting a strategic pivot rather than a cyclical rebound. For investors and executives watching the broader beauty and luxury complex, the divergence suggests mass-market beauty may be outpacing high luxury in resilience this year, even as both categories point to a steadier back half of 2026.
Sources
- Luxury Daily — Watches, jewelry lead LVMH first-half performance
- Cosmetics Business — LVMH growth buoyed by Dior and Sephora in second quarter of 2026
- The Spirits Business — Spirits sales up 3% in LVMH H1 as Cognac rebounds
- WWD — Unilever 'Power Brands' Dove, Vaseline Drive Strong Growth in First Half
- Cosmetics Business — Unilever reports best H1 in a decade in half-year 2026 financial update
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