DOW JONES--Shares of $RMS (+2,37%) fell 11 percent after the luxury group’s sales in China disappointed investors.

To get an indication of when this important market might recover, keep an eye on pork prices.

That’s the advice from Hermès CEO Axel Dumas. He said the commodity, which is currently very cheap, is one of two things he monitors to gauge the health of Chinese consumers—along with real estate.

“Pork is eaten, especially at banquets and in restaurants...so it’s a good indicator of the desire to, you know, celebrate,” Dumas said. “I’m not saying that all our customers react to the price of pork, but I’m waiting for the recovery, which will be a good indicator of optimism.”

Hermès reported a 6.7 percent increase in sales for the second quarter today. However, sales in the Asia-Pacific region—which excludes Japan but includes China—rose by only 2.5 percent, disappointing analysts.

The timing of a recovery in China is a key question for the luxury goods industry, which has relied on spending by Chinese customers both at home and abroad in recent decades.

This article is part of live coverage by The Wall Street Journal.

Shares of the French luxury goods group Hermès International
$RMS (+2,37%) fell by more than 7% on Wednesday. The reason was diluted earnings per share reported for the first half of the year, which fell short of analysts’ expectations and thus overshadowed a strong operating result. Despite a higher gross margin, the results were weighed down by negative currency effects.

Operating profit for the first half of the year rose to €3.35 billion, exceeding the analyst consensus of €3.29 billion. However, diluted earnings per share of €21.32 fell short of the forecast of €21.56.

Revenue, at €8.16 billion, was in line with the average analyst estimate. Currency fluctuations reduced revenue by more than €360 million in the first half of the year. However, currency-adjusted growth accelerated from 5.6% in the first quarter to 6.7% in the second quarter.

The Asia-Pacific region excluding Japan continued to be a weak spot: Here, revenue rose by 2.5% on a currency-adjusted basis in the second quarter, falling short of the consensus estimate of 4.0%.

Japan grew by 12.3%, exceeding the forecast of 10.3%, while the Americas region grew by 13.7% (consensus: 13.3%). Europe, including France, expanded by 7.4%, exceeding the estimate of 6.6%.

Broken down by product line, revenue from leather goods rose by 10.2% on a currency-adjusted basis in the second quarter, remaining slightly below the estimate of 11%. The silk and textiles segment posted a 12.2% increase, while sales of perfumes and cosmetics fell by 9.5%.

The operating margin reached 41.0% of revenue. This exceeded the analyst consensus of 40.6% but was below the prior-year figure of 41.4%. The company reported no impact from tariffs. Adjusted free cash flow rose by 18% to €2.2 billion, and the net cash position increased by €2.2 billion year-over-year to €12.9 billion.

Hermès stated that it reaffirms “an ambitious target for revenue growth at constant exchange rates,” but did not provide a specific figure despite geopolitical and monetary uncertainties.

Jefferies, which rates the stock “Buy” with a price target of €2,000, stated that the investment debate will “likely continue to focus on relative growth that is unimpressive by the group’s high historical standards.”

The research firm also raised the question of whether “the persistently weak growth in China” was partly due to the company limiting the availability of certain products in that market.

Here’s something that might interest you: - https://de.investing.com/news/earnings/hermes-h1-starke-nachfrage-gleicht-wahrungsgegenwind-aus-3584771

$MC (+0,49%)
$MBG (+1,31%)
$ULVR (-1,76%)
$PYPL (-1,63%)
$NBIS (+32,8%)
$SPGI (-2,24%)
$UPS (-0,39%)
$KO (-1,75%)
$GLW (+12,04%)
$BA (+2,62%)
$KER (+1,12%)
$ENPH (+6,49%)
$NXPI (+1,49%)
$STX (+13,08%)
$BE (+28,79%)
$V (-1,44%)
$MDLZ (-3,88%)
$000660
$P911 (-0,37%)
$BN (-2,97%)
$RMS (+2,37%)
$BAS (+0,82%)
$AG1 (-1,06%)
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$TER
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$CVX (-0,02%)

that could provide the struggling fashion industry with a much-needed financial boost. Haaland is particularly known for his impressive collection of large Hermès bags—especially the Haut à Courroies (HAC) model—with individual pieces costing around $50,000 and his entire collection estimated to be worth over $300,000. By confidently using traditional European craftsmanship as status symbols in their everyday lives, these athletes are not only breaking down traditional gender norms but also opening up a male target audience with enormous purchasing power to luxury brands, thereby securing their future growth. $LVMH
$RMS (+2,37%)

Hello,

I have a question for you, or rather, I need your advice regarding my core-satellite portfolio.

I’d like to restructure my portfolio. I want to reallocate the weightings and replace SAP.

I’m thinking of a 60/40 weighting.

It should be held for at least 25 years, and dividends aren’t a must since I use up my tax-free allowance every year anyway.

I’ll invest €30,000 to start and contribute €240 monthly to the two ETFs.

I’m thinking of using the Vanguard FTSE All World as the core.

The satellites should be the Amundi Semiconductor ETF, Amazon, Alphabet C, Stryker, Visa, Hannover Re, Hermes, and Rolls-Royce (employee stock).

What do you think?

$VWRL (+2,07%)
$AMZN (+11,8%)
$GOOG (-0,09%)
$V (-1,44%)
$SYK (-10,16%)
$CHIP
$RR.
$RMS (+2,37%)
$HNR1

May was dominated by strong figures and a massive rally in the tech and cloud sector. While April was still characterized by a general recovery, excellent quarterly figures and the unbroken AI boom continued to fuel the markets in May. The Nasdaq in particular benefited greatly from this and reached new highs. Even though volatility was noticeable in isolated cases, investors made strong gains in growth stocks.

My portfolio was able to take advantage of this strong momentum and achieve an outstanding performance, but was narrowly beaten by the extremely strong performance of the Nasdaq 100:

📊 Monthly performance: +9,33%

📊 Portfolio value: ~43.345 €

📊 Performance max. (06.01.2022): +43,84%

📊 Performance YTD: ~+10,44%

Performance & comparison 🚀

Performance in May was exceptionally strong, driven by my high weighting in US tech stocks. While European indices such as the DAX made rather moderate gains, US stocks dominated the action. My portfolio did extremely well with a whopping gain of over 8 % and clearly outperformed the broad market.

Performance in comparison (01.05.-31.05.2026):

My portfolio: +9,33%

NASDAQ 100: +11,20%

S&P 500: +6,47%

FTSE All-World: +5,93%

DAX: +3,27%

Buying, selling & allocation 💶

In the month of May, € 300.00 flowed into the MSCI ACWI USD (Acc)
$ACWI and € 50.00 in the MSCI World Small Cap
$WSML (+1,96%). In addition, smaller savings plan tranches were invested in Solaria Energia
$SLR (+5,21%) (150,30 €), Rheinmetall $RHM (-0,64%) (14,00 €), Ferrari
$RACE (+2,67%) (€6.00) and Hermes
$RMS (+2,37%) (€ 3.01) were invested.

Top movers in May 🟢

The list of winners in May is led by outstanding developments in the cloud and cybersecurity sector - an absolute feast for tech investors.

The absolute frontrunner was $SNOW (+5,03%) with a veritable price explosion of +83,65% (+€ 527.53), closely followed by $DDOG (+2,14%) with +82,71% (+592,11 €). Both values showed incredible momentum. Also $CRWD (+0,23%) was convincing across the board and delivered a strong +66,91% (+€ 930.15), which was the biggest gain in the portfolio in absolute terms. $IREN (+36,1%) continued its strong trend and recorded a further +40,45% (+344,17 €). The outstanding tech performance was rounded off by $NET (+4,95%) with a solid +13,60% (+€ 257.29), while Keyence also $6861 (+5,66%) with +12,08% (+€83.94) also developed extremely positively.

Flop movers in May 🔴

Despite the generally extremely strong sentiment, there were also some stocks that consolidated or showed weakness in May.

American Lithium was the worst performer, falling by -13,16% (-46.03 €), still unable to find a bottom in the current market environment. With $1211 (-0,5%) the minus of -12,13% (€ -190.62) was due to falling EV sales and the ongoing price war in China. $NU (+3,24%) After the strong previous months, the share price fell by -8,90% (-99.30 €) after the strong previous months. Also $TEM (+5,28%) also recorded a slight setback of -8,49% (-7.90 €), similar to $BABA (+1,15%) with -5,15% (-40,59 €). $RHM (-0,64%) also lost ground and lost -4,60% (-77.14 €), indicating further profit-taking in the defense sector.

Conclusion 💡

May was an outstanding month that impressively demonstrated how much a targeted positioning in the tech and cloud sector can pay off.

❓ Question for the community

This was my month in numbers, what was your best buy in May? Which stock surprised you the most?

👇 Write it in the comments!

➡️ Follow @codeandcapital for transparent portfolio updates!

🔗 Link in bio: Wikifolio, Getquin & Parqet Portfolio

🗞️ Newsletter: codeandcapitalquant.beehiiv.com

I have now thrown out over 15 positions. These are now things from two portfolios . This is now being done continuously with a savings plan. Further expanded everything.

Some now say that there are still a lot of stocks but there are two portfolios to emphasize extra. I used to have a lot of overlaps in the luxury sector or banks and I have now only focused on two things. $RMS (+2,37%) instead of $MC (+0,49%) or also $V (-1,44%) instead of $AXP (+0,88%) of course the tech stocks which are also all in the ETF. But I think I have now found a good compromise for me or which stocks would you throw out now?