Paris (France) (AFP) – Shares in EssilorLuxottica, the world’s top maker of eyeglasses, slid on Thursday as analysts said investors have turned wary of AI glasses. The French-Italian company has pushed hard into wearable tech and has a tie-up with Meta for its Ray-Ban AI glasses. The nearly five percent drop in morning trading in Paris, whose overall market was up 0.1 percent, came despite the company posting Wednesday evening a 4.1 percent increase in first quarter sales to 7.1 billion euros ($8.3 billion).
EssilorLuxottica did not provide a breakdown of AI glasses, but said they supported growth and the launch of Ray-Ban Meta’s new optical-first styles had been a success. EssilorLuxottica’s foray into “AI glasses is now seen as a source of risk, after initially being viewed as a major opportunity,” analysts at Oddo BHF said in a note. “Following very satisfactory performance in previous quarters, the stock is going through a tougher patch in 2026,” they added.
While first quarter sales met analyst expectations and represented a gain of 10.8 percent on an organic basis — that is stripping out the effects of changes in exchange rates and in business operations. But “given the macroeconomic uncertainties, we are cautiously lowering our expectations for organic growth in 2026 from 10 to nine percent,” said analysts at Jefferies. EssilorLuxottica does not provide detailed sales and earnings guidance.
© 2024 AFP
