Cucinelli Raises 2026 Growth Outlook To About 12% But Says He Won't Open 20 Stores A Year
The Executive Chairman guided to around 10% growth for 2027 and said the house wants to stay "slightly exclusive."
Brunello Cucinelli raised its 2026 revenue growth forecast to about 12% at constant exchange rates, from an earlier 10% to 11%, Executive Chairman and Creative Director Brunello Cucinelli said on the company's nine-month earnings call. He also guided to around 10% growth for 2027, again at constant exchange rates.
The numbers behind the raise
Revenue for the first nine months was 1.123 billion euros, up 13.3% at constant exchange rates and 10.2% at current rates, Cucinelli said. Third-quarter revenue was 374.2 million euros, up 13.5% at constant rates.
Retail sales were 741 million euros, up 19% at constant rates for the nine months and 17% in the third quarter. Wholesale was 382.6 million euros, up 4% for the nine months and 7% in the third quarter.
By region, sales rose 20% in the Americas, 7% in Europe and 14% in Asia at constant rates, with China a significant contributor. CEO Luca Lisandroni said currency cost about 2.5 points of growth for the full year.
For 2026, management expects an operating margin of around 17%, against 16.8% last year, and investment of around 6% of revenue. It expects net financial position of around 160 million euros, from 188 million euros last year, and no change to the 50% dividend policy.
"Slightly exclusive": the pushback on faster growth
Asked about China, Cucinelli recounted a visit from Chinese investors. One told him the brand was "all the rage" and could have "three great years ahead of us."
His reply, as he told it: that does not mean "we want to open 20 stores a year." In the investor's version, such a plan would let him make money while the brand "goes down the drain." Cucinelli said the company wants to "stay slightly exclusive," a point discussed at its early-October meeting.
On stores, he said the strategy stays at three or four openings a year, including refurbishments and expansions. The Abu Dhabi store has been moved to early 2027 from 2026, he said, though his remarks on the original timing were garbled in the transcript.
Pressed by a Morgan Stanley analyst on fewer discounted listings online, Cucinelli called it an awareness effort with multi-brand clients and a negligible phenomenon. The house will "never have an entry price, first product, first line," he said.
What management said about 2027 and sales staff
For 2027, Cucinelli said retail should grow above 10% and wholesale in the mid-single digits. Sales associates get 85% of their pay as fixed salary, he said, so no rivalry builds among them and customers are not pressured.
What to watch
Next week the company opens Casa Cucinelli in Shanghai. The extension of its Plaza 66 store there is due before year-end. Plans for 2027 include an extension in Beijing and a second Beijing store.
Cucinelli's stated brake on expansion arrives alongside a raised forecast: three or four store projects a year, against a guide of around 10% growth in 2027.
