Ray-Ban Maker EssilorLuxottica's Sales Growth Slows Despite Smartglasses Boom — 2nd Update

By Joshua Kirby

Eyewear company EssilorLuxottica said sales growth slowed a little in the second quarter from the first, despite a continued rapid increase in revenue from its smartglasses.

The Franco-Italian manufacturer of Oakley and Ray-Ban sunglasses booked 8.7% year-on-year organic growth in its top line to 7.69 billion euros ($8.74 billion) in the three months through June, losing a little pace from the 11% growth it recorded in the first three months of the year. Analysts polled by Visible Alpha had forecast sales of 7.83 billion euros in the second quarter.

Sales in the Asia-Pacific region drove quarterly growth, rising by 17% on year after the acquisition of the store network of optical retailer Top Charoen, which owns around 2,000 stores in Thailand. Revenue in North America and Europe saw some softer trends, in part due to conflict in the Middle East, EssilorLuxottica said.

Sales of Ray-Ban and Oakley smartglasses, powered by artificial intelligence and produced in collaboration with tech giant Meta, nearly doubled on the year in the second quarter, adding to rapid expansion in a category the company is banking on to help fuel its growth over the longer term. The company backed its five-year guidance of "solid growth" in total revenue and "broadly aligned" increases in adjusted operating profit. It didn't offer any numerical guidance.

"AI glasses confirmed their exponential growth," the company said. Still, questions remain around the company's growth trajectory as it leans into its smartglasses product offer.

"The point of debate remains the prospects for smartglasses," analysts at brokerage Bernstein wrote in a note following the update.

The group could face competition from other smartglasses models in the near future, with Google and Apple preparing their own models of the wearable tech. But plenty of untapped opportunity still lies ahead for EssilorLuxottica, analysts at UBS wrote in a note this month.

"Our long-standing view has been that greater competition is necessary to help build the category and accelerate adoption in the U.S. and globally," the bank's analysts said.

The company's adjusted operating profit rose by 15% over the first six months of the year, while its operating margin grew to 18.9% from 18.1% in the previous-year period.

Write to Joshua Kirby at joshua.kirby@wsj.com; @joshualeokirby

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 28, 2026 13:15 ET (17:15 GMT)