【Zurich, Swit】Richemont Continues to Outpace Swatch on the Stock Market

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Editor’s Note

This article highlights the diverging performance of two major luxury goods groups, Richemont and Swatch. The trend, observed over several years, sees Richemont buoyed by its strong jewelry division while Swatch shares continue to face headwinds.

Cartier Richemont
Diverging Stock Performance

The luxury goods stocks of Richemont and the Swatch Group have moved in different directions over the past two weeks. While shares of the Geneva-based jewelry and watch conglomerate, buoyed by strong jewelry division figures, have gained, Swatch’s bearer shares continue to struggle. This is a pattern that has been observed for several years.

As of Friday around 11:15 AM, Richemont shares (-0.2% to CHF 169.75) were trading slightly lower, while Swatch bearer shares (-1.4% to CHF 162.30) were experiencing more significant losses. The overall SMI market was down slightly by 0.1 percent.

Since the mid-November earnings release, Richemont is thus up 5 percent, whereas Swatch has given up 8 percent. A look into the past is striking: at the end of November 2022, one had to pay CHF 250 for a Swatch share – twice as much as for a Richemont share.

Analyst Skepticism Towards Swatch

Looking ahead to the coming year, analysts also find few supportive words for Swatch. JPMorgan and UBS raised their price targets for the Biel-based watch group’s shares, but they simultaneously maintained their sell recommendations.

The responsible UBS analyst assesses the outlook for 2026 critically, even if the market recovery will provide some support.

“Swatch has pursued a rather unclear strategy for years: sometimes the focus is on production with the risk of significant inventory buildup, sometimes the group aims for high cash flows, resulting in highly volatile cash conversion rates,” she criticizes.

For 2026, she expects organic sales growth at Swatch of 4 percent, supported by price increases and the China recovery.

The JPMorgan expert also sees Swatch Group shares primarily facing further downside risks. In her view, stock market expectations for sales and margin development are too optimistic.

“Especially watch brands in the mid-price segment are likely to continue facing demand pressure, and high fixed costs as well as rising gold prices will continue to burden the margin,” she notes.
Richemont Benefits from Strong Jewelry Business

The judgments on the Richemont group are different, as it continues to benefit from the strong jewelry business of its brands Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels.

“Richemont’s leading role in branded jewelry will secure sustainable growth for the future even in a persistently challenging environment,” states JPMorgan, for example.

The UBS analyst also believes that Richemont achieves significantly more robust results than its competitors thanks to a higher proportion of jewelry sales and a larger own retail network.

“With strong brands that can rely on their pricing power, Richemont will benefit from the expected industry recovery next year. This justifies the higher valuation on the stock market,” she says.
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⏰ Published on: November 28, 2025