Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
EssilorLuxottica SA reported an 18 percent surge in fourth-quarter sales, riding a boom in demand for AI-powered glasses that far surpassed analysts’ estimates.
Revenue totaled €7.6 billion ($9 billion) in the holiday period, the world’s biggest eyewear maker said Wednesday in a statement. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had expected a more than 11 percent sales jump, on the same constant currency basis reported by EssilorLuxottica.
The company’s Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley smart glasses with partner Meta Platforms Inc. have gained traction with consumers, staking the alliance to a lead in the emerging wearable-tech category. EssilorLuxottica didn’t break out profit for the fourth quarter, but said it sold more than 7 million pairs of AI glasses in 2025.
The costs of quickly scaling up production have raised investor concerns about EssilorLuxottica’s profit margins, leading to an about 22 percent decline in the French-Italian company’s shares since highs set in November. The company sought to assure investors that the AI glasses wouldn’t permanently dent margins.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Looking ahead to the next five years, we are committed to delivering solid revenue growth, with the adjusted operating profit’s pace broadly aligned,” chief executive officer Francesco Milleri and deputy CEO Paul Du Saillant said in the statement.
For all of 2025, adjusted operating income rose 6.8 percent to €4.5 billion, also beating analysts’ views.
Still, tariffs and the ramp-up of AI glasses sales had an effect on profit margins, accelerating in the second half. For the full year, adjusted margin was 16 percent, 70 basis points below 2024 at constant exchange rates, the company said.
Meta said in January that it delayed an international expansion of the latest $799 Meta Ray-Ban Display models, introduced in the US in September, because of short supplies. Bloomberg reported in January that Meta was seeking to double production capacity to 20 million units or more this year.
Under Milleri, who is also chairman, EssilorLuxottica has targeted a range of eyewear innovations, leveraging its research and manufacturing clout through retail chains such as LensCrafters and Sunglass Hut.
The progress spanned all regions and included initiatives in areas such as myopia management and hearing-enhanced frames.
Sales in North America advanced 24 percent in the fourth quarter, while Europe and Asia each topped 10 percent on a constant-currency basis.
By Antonio Vanuzzo
ADVERTISEMENT
Learn more:
Meta and EssilorLuxottica Discuss Doubling Output of AI Glasses
The companies are discussing potentially doubling production capacity for their AI-powered smart glasses as demand surges for the Ray-Ban Meta frames.
