J.P. Morgan International FTM 27 May 26 European Luxury Goods; Prysmian; InterContinental Hotels; Xiaomi (1810); China Power Equipment; China Basic Materials; P&C Insurance Subsector; CEEMEA Retail; Televisa and More

Research evidence excerpt

J.P. Morgan International FTM 27 May 26 European Luxury Goods; Prysmian; InterContinental Hotels; Xiaomi (1810); China Power Equipment; China Basic Materials; P&C Insurance Subsector; CEEMEA Retail; Televisa and More

Global Equity Research

International First to Market 27 May 2026

Top Stories

European Luxury Goods (Chiara Battistini), Italy, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Switzerland

Watch the Gangnam style: a tide that lifts most boats

The Q1 reporting season highlighted two major bright spots for the luxury sector: the US and South Korea. While the current

strength of the American consumer is well understood and widely discussed among investors, in this note we deep dive on the

Korean market, its recent drivers and the luxury goods exposure. South Korea has historically been an important market for

luxury goods, with HSD% of companies sales on average and one of the highest luxury spend per capita. In the last couple of

quarters, trends in the region have been accelerating, mainly on growing consumer confidence as well as accelerating tourist

flows vs normalisation of the drags from the daigou rationalisation. Going forward, there are two important positive drivers at

play: 1) acceleration of wealth creation among locals, thanks to the booming demand for semiconductors in the AI super cycle

leading to large bonus pools and skyrocketing stock markets, and 2) growth of tourist spend, thanks to attractive price

arbitrages and growing cultural relevance. In this context, into the rest of the year and next, we expect South Korea to remain a

strong contributor to luxury groups growth, helping to offset the volatility in some other markets (importantly, the Korean

exposure is today larger than the Middle East on average).